The kids vintage world has definitely changed since the day when, as an idealistic new dad, I walked into Allan & Suzi on the UWS, asked if they had or knew of any kids clothes, and was told, "There...
[read the full post...]
Category archive: toys
May 11, 2012
Woohoo, Wary Meyers Kids Shop Is AMAZING
May 9, 2012
Misaki Kawai World At Children's Museum Of The Arts
Alright, I know: it's hard not to stare at the Bazoombas Bench. But artist Misaki Kawai's also made all kinds of other hipster-whimsical, kid-size furniture for her current exhibition at the Children's Museum of the Arts in NYC. Like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 7, 2012
Piles Of Antonio Vitali Toys Traded For Piles Of Money
Well, it's always good to know where you stand. I ended up conducting an experiment over the weekend as I decided whether to post about two separate hoards of classic Antonio Vitali carved wood toys--or whether to bid on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 5, 2012
Tree Rocking Horse By Hilla Shamia
Well this is rather nice. Israeli designer Hilla Shamia made this awesome rocking horse out of a big ol' slice of tree in 2010. Maybe this is an option for the giant street trees I see getting chopped down...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 27, 2012
Three Of The Four Rocking Horses Of The Apocalypse, By Marc Newson For Magis
A reading from the Book of Revelations:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 26, 2012
Craigslist Find: Creative Playthings Garage
That steel drum may have gotten way, but there's still sweet Creative Playthings goodness to be had out there. Like this classic Playtown garage, with the working molded ply elevator, which DT reader Nathan spotted on Craigslist in Chicago....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 24, 2012
Damn You, eBay, And Your Creative Playthings Steel Drum With Handpainted Logo
If eBay were a person and not just an affiliate-linked advertiser, I'd come over there and punch it in the nose right. now. for not having a system that sends reminders to bidders that items they are bidding on--and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 22, 2012
Late Antonio Vitali Toys
The extraordinarily subtle biomorphic, sculptural abstractions of Antonio Vitali's Creative Playthings-era carved wooden toys are icons that can bring thousands of dollars at auction. The woodblocks-with-eyes-drilled-out dolls from his Phoning It In Era? Maybe not so much. Vintage Wooden...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
When A Horse Really Loves Another Horse
Thanks Hasbro, I was finding it awkward to bring up the important subject of sex work with my 4-year-old, but her big sister asking what "stud" means while playing Monopoly Horse Lovers Edition provided the perfect opportunity....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 21, 2012
Edward Gorey's The Black Doll Plush Toy
Awesome fur coat-wearing, goth weirdo writer/artist/illustrator/playwright Edward Gorey used to make stuffed animals for friends and the cast and crew of his plays. Rarely, he also made them for sale, like the 26 handsewn, rice-filled Figbash dolls that accompanied...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 20, 2012
Creative Playthings Tractor Is Not All In Your Head
So I see this Creative Playthings tractor listed, and at first I'm like, "Wow, Frank Caplan, way to pare down the toy design to the bare essence, thereby stimulating the child's imagination, rather than just his senses, all the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 18, 2012
Puzzle House: Slot-Together Playhouse For America
DT commenter ollie makes a fine point, that you don't have to be in Finland after all if you want a sweet, slot-together plywood playhouse. Modern Playhouse will make one for you and ship it right from the Scandinavia...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 17, 2012
Sadface: Maja Slot-Together Playhut Only In Finland
Why is Heikki so sad? The color alone of Minna's awesome Maja flatpack, Finnply playhouse should have him jumping with joy. On top of that, he lives Finland, the only country where you can actually buy one. Maja playhouse,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 13, 2012
Sweet Picture Matching Dominoes From Abbatt Toys
These picture dominoes from Abbatt Toys have a pretty sweet 60s look going on. Which reminds me of how 00s or 10s all this stuff around us is gonna look someday. Vintage Object Puzzle Dominoes pictures Abbatt toy 1960s,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 10, 2012
Kids Play The Darnedest Things
So K2's got the Playmobil house and garden set out on the floor next to me, and I suddenly hear, "Let's go play!" "Great, how can I get out of my meeting?" Playmobil The Home Office, $13.99 [amazon]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 9, 2012
Lille Huset Slot-Together Eco-Dollhouse Kits On Kickstarter
Alright, this is pretty sweet. Chicago kids designer/author Alyson Beaton is using Kickstarter to launch lille huset, a collection of flatpack, slot-together dollhouses made from paperboard and birch ply. They're somewhere between permanent and recyclable, light and easy to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 6, 2012
Toy Fair Funny Sad
You probably already know it, but Lisa Hanawalt's sketch-based report from this year's Toy Fair is pretty awesome. Even if the Playmobil people come off as Chia-mocking Heathers. I mean, I know it's Chia, but come on. At least...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 5, 2012
Tri-Ang Pedal Racer Mostly For Export
Complete scans of The Meccano Magazine going back to 1916 are now available online, and are probably filled with many forgotten awesome treasures and products that might be of great benefit to the dads and youth of today. But...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 30, 2012
Playscapes Reissue Of Friedberg's Handcrafted Playgrounds
This is pretty amazing. Paige from Playscapes, the playground design and history blog, has acquired publication rights to M. Paul Friedberg's long out-of-print 1975 DIY classic, Handcrafted Playrgounds, and has made it available again as a PDF. It's just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Uh, OK! Parent Profile Rattle From Cameo By RUX
When you find a concept that works, you stick with it, I guess. Russell Greenberg designed his wedding rings by extruding his and his wife's profiles, and now that they've had a kid, he's deployed his profile extrusion technology...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 29, 2012
Wait, What? Clyfford Still Jigsaw Puzzle?
Artist/critic John Perreault offhandedly mentioned this Clyfford Still jigsaw puzzle in his review of the Still Museum in Denver, but the puzzle isn't listed on the Museum's online store. I will investigate this potentially awesome development in eleven minutes,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 21, 2012
Vintage Stacking Elephants From Abbatt Toys
Abbatt Toys were kind of the cottage-sized, family-run, Creative Playthings of London. Great stuff, that turns up for sale much less frequently than CP. This set of stackable, wooden elephants is kind of sweet, and maybe not a choking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 11, 2012
Folding RockingHorse By Michael Knap
After spotting Danish designer Michael Knap's awesome fold-flat RockingHorse on Shoebox Dwelling, I wanted to see what else he's working on. Right now it looks like he's going all in on the RockingHorse. RockingHorse by Michael Knap Industrial Designer...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 9, 2012
An Ambivalent Report On Mercedes Convertible Pedal Cars
His confidence momentarily shaken, DT reader and off-da-hook pedal car expert DT questioned how I could have posted this image of the Play-Modern play cube system without mentioning the 300SL pedal car. So let's get a stake in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 7, 2012
Molded Ply Mayhem! Creative Playthings Ride-on Tractor
I'll be brief: this 1960s-era ride-on tractor from Creative Playthings is awesome, and you should buy it. If you live in or around Eastern Pennsylvania, because apparently, it is too heavy or unwieldy to ship. And then everyone else...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 5, 2012
Modular Ply Playhouse Cubes By Play-Modern
Well, these are cool. Play Modern is a modular ply cube playhouse system designed by Kansas City architect Kimball Hales and, uh, Mrs. Hales. Ah, here we go: Laura. BYU alums, in case the names didn't give it away...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 1, 2012
Creative Playthings Ply Panel Van
The crazy thing about this rarely seen Creative Playthings truck/van is that I just saw one. A nearly identical but cleaner example just sold on ebay for $51 and change, shipped, and then not two days later, some feller...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 24, 2012
Kenner Daddy Saddle, aka the Ur-Daddle
Back when I was a boy, our daddy saddles were made of plastic and didn't have cutesy names and urls. Vintage Kenner ad [likecool.com, thanks dt reader rolf]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 23, 2012
Rocking Elmgreen & Dragset In Trafalgar Square
I'm so stoked for my boys Elmgreen & Dragset, who just unveiled their sculpture on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square today. Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 is a giant kid on a rocking horse, cast in bronze. It looks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 22, 2012
You Got A Better Explanation For This Kid-Sized Ferrari 330 P2?
Literally no one has commented, written, blogged, or tweeted about Maclaren's secret bankruptcy scheme to get out of a decade's worth of amputation lawsuits and business obligations, so whatever, here is a WTF kid-size Ferrari. Apparently, in the 1960s, there...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Gooood Evening, J.F.! Pixar Alums Making AI Toys
ToyTalk is a startup working on web- and mobile-enabled, AI-powered toys. A Huggable Siri. 2017 cannot get here fast enough. Ex-Pixar Geeks building Siri-style Line of Toys [readwriteweb]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 21, 2012
Cutlets Upcycled Toys From Brothers Dressler
Cutlets are small wooden toys handmade from unique scraps of birch ply left over from larger furniture production, which are sanded and hand-rubbed with kid-safe finish by the noted Toronto conceptual upcycling woodworking twins at the Brothers Dressler co-operative....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 16, 2012
Not Molded Ply Creative Playthings Doll Stroller
I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days now, but truth be told, with an opening bid of $375, I kind of figured it wasn't going anywhere too soon. The eBay seller of this unusual [not...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 15, 2012
Antonio Vitali Single Mom Play Set
In her research on Creative Playthings' forward-thinking approach to toy design, Dr. Amy Ogata noted that "[Antonio] Vitali's designs put the visual and intellectual emphasis on the form and the natural grain of the wood, reinforcing the company's ideal...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 5, 2012
Like-A-Car: The Foljambe Hobby Auto
Thanks to his dedicated efforts as the founding editorial director of the Chilton automotive publishing concern, and as the instigator for and vice president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Eugene S. Foljambe had already...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 30, 2012
HIT Job
image: via seo blog thomasthetankenginefriends Speaking of selling out babies, the announcement that, as anticipated, senior executives of HIT Entertainment will be leaving the company when its acquisition by Mattel is completed, led me to this awesomely written article...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 27, 2012
Balancing Blocks By Fort Standard
Fort Standard was founded like yesterday by designers Gregory Buntain and Ian Collings, and already they have a tableful of awesome, crystal-faceted balancing blocks handmade from salvaged hardwood and finished in a range of tasty colors, and white. Fort...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 25, 2012
That's a Nässjö Molded Ply Rocking Horse
Wow, among the interesting items Andrew scouted out at Cologne specialty auction house W.G. Herr's most recent sale: this sweet, Swedish, molded ply rocking horse. The label said it was a special edition made in 1970 to celebrate the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 24, 2012
3-D Printed 'Still Alive' For The Fisher-Price Record Player
I'm getting chills watching this. It's a 3-D printed record that plays "Still Alive," Jonathan Coulton's song for the credits of Portal. On a vintage Fisher-Price record player. The future, the past, the virtual and the real, all have...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Mr. Caitlin Flanagan Is Barbie's Executive Producer And All That Entails
HAHA, all this time everyone's been getting all worked up about Caitlin Flanagan and her pretend-housewifery, and her imaginary teen oral sex epidemic fearmongering, and have been ignoring the real menace II society: her husband, Rob Hudnut. Hudnut turns out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2012
K2 Playmobil Garden
We try to keep each Playmobil set intact and separate from the others, but I think I see a couple of invasive species in this garden....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 19, 2012
Toot Toot Chugga Chugga, Antonio Vitali Car
Maybe someone with their Antonio Vitali retrospective catalogues handy can tell us for sure, but I think this sweet, signed toy car is from the US toy collection the Swiss designer launched after he did his work for Creative...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 18, 2012
MakerBot 3-D Printed Playsets
Finally, not only does my blogging procrastination pay off, I get to call it a protest against censorship! Yesterday, the 3-D printing gurus at MakerBot unveiled the first MakerBot Playsets, a print-at-home, 1:18-scale dollhouse castle full of princesses, Utah Teapots,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 17, 2012
Entertainingly Grim, Old-Timey Photos Of Canadian Children
Master Henry Archibald, Montreal, QC, 1865 Via Retronaut comes a very nice selection of photos of mid-19th century Canadian children posing grimly with toys, from the digitized collections of the Musee McCord Museum in Quebec. The images were published...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 16, 2012
Specific Kids' Objects
Last Summer, David Zwirner Gallery screened a couple of documentaries about Donald Judd, including The Artist's Studio, a 2010 remix of vintage 1970s footage by Michael Blackwood. Blackwood had filmed Judd and his family both in Marfa [in 1975]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Laser-Cut Steel Dollhouse By Bunker Hill
Though he's mostly into Swedish pine and plywood lately, in the mid-to-late 2000's, Stockholm architect Daniel Franzen definitely had a laser-cut steel phase. One result is this awesome steel dollhouse inspired by the barn house he designed for Swedish...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 13, 2012
DT Friday Freakout: Disaster Edition
Well, I just had my calendar cleared, and ended up spending ten hours out with the kids. At one point, we just sat in the car. For like an hour. Just chilling when napping wouldn't do. And then there were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 12, 2012
Rosie The Hungarian Momblogger's Chair-Based Play Kitchen
Why not make a play kitchen out of a chair? Take a wooden chair, paint or stained to your liking, the leg holes of shelf brackets, it is plywood or sheet set a residual shelf "console". One of the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 4, 2012
OG Toy Braun Blender From Creative Playthings
Well here's something you never see. Or at least I've never seen. It's apparently a toy-sized Braun Multimix blender, imported back in the day by Creative Playthings. Which, does this make sense? It clearly dates from the Dieter Rams...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 29, 2011
Riley Is A Toy Marketing Superhero
Whn I first saw this floating around, I thought it might be one of those awkwardly obvious stunt videos where people feed their kids their own activist lines. But even if her dad got her spun up a little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 27, 2011
Homemade Toy Patch Panel By Erik Utter
Video engineering consultant Erik Utter's 2-yo son turns out to love cables, plugs, and control panels as much as he does. So for Christmas, Utter whipped up this sweet toy patch panel on AutoCAD, had it cut and engraved...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 23, 2011
Antonio Vitali Rocking Snail Too Slow For Christmas
Assuming you didn't already blow your Christmas wad on the ersatz nativity set last fall, you should now be ready to pounce on this: an early hand-carved rocking snail from Antonio Vitali's Swiss toys days. The shaped details are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
the Mountain Goats Chews Legos, Spits Them Out
Indie songster John Darnielle is so pissed at Lego's new gender-coded blocks & dolls strategy, he almost canceled his subscription to Business Week. @mountain_goats via @gabrielroth [twitter] previously: Lego is for girls now. again. whatever....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 21, 2011
Lego Occupy Wall Street Riot Brigade Set
"Gear up! Roll out! And put an end to dissent!" Try sayin' Lego's evil now, hippie! Occupy Wall Street Riot Brigade Lego Set [slate v via laughingsquid]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 16, 2011
Lego Is For Girls. Now. Again. Whatever.
Our girls already play the hell out of their Legos, so on a purely personal level, I don't really feel too worked up about the new Lego Friends thing that supplants traditional minifigs with girlier "ladyfig" dolls and sets...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 14, 2011
Stokke Xplory-Lookin' Doll Stroller
Famosa may not make the Baby Pirulin Pipi anymore, but you know what it does make? A toy stroller that looks an awful lot like a Stokke Xplory. For twins. That folds. Maravilloso! Silla Plegable Nenuco, 38,95 € [juguetespedrosa.es]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Wee Irish Spring
Judging by his big, swingin', interactive, uncircumcised penis, I would say that the Baby Pirulin Pipi doll in this commercial grew up to be the Baby Wee-Wee toddler doll in the commercial Thingamababy wrote about in 2007. At the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Have The Crawligator Market Found A Floor?
You'd think that if the Crawligator that showed up on eBay last week had 17 bids and sold for $202, the one on eBay right now might at least have a single $49 bid. But then, the previous Crawligator...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 13, 2011
WTF Angry Birds Playground?
I'm sorry, but unless I'm at a theme park where I pay cash money for my kid to be brainwashed by branded entertainment properties and character-licensed merchandise, I don't want it. Seriously, what school board or city council would...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 11, 2011
DT Friday Freakout: Nutcracker Edition
Whew, we've had family and Nutcracker up to ^^^ here this weekend, so here, just in time to ruin your Sunday night, are some freakout stories from the worlds of science, health, parenting, politics: But first, an open letter to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 9, 2011
Things I'm Not Trying To Win On eBay: Mint-In-Box Creative Playthings Blocks
I've been thinking I'm going to bid on these beautiful-looking, new-in-box, c.1975 Creative Playthings blocks for the kids' Christmas present. And though we're mostly out of the choke hazard phase, I decided they're a little small for us. [The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 7, 2011
Philippe Starck's Face: Mustache Ride-On Toy
Holy Moses, until I was poking around the archive of an Amsterdam design auction, I had forgotten how utterly freaky, bizarre, and wrong Philippe Starck's ride-on/walking toy The Face is. And to think that five years ago, we gave...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 3, 2011
Whoa, Crawligator In A Box, Baby!
Someone's Christmas just got 100% crawlier. The Crawligator belly scooter is one of the icons of the Creative Playthings era--an era where keeping the kid from inadvertently scooting down the stairs and cracking his melon open was the parents'...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 1, 2011
Happy Meals, Now With LOLZ
Does SF Weekly cover anything besides the Happy Meal Toy Ban? I guess I don't know, but columnist Joe Eskenazi sure does get worked up over it. What a smug crank. Anyway, today's the first day of the San Francisco...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
A Children's Treasury Of Playground Near Nuclear Power Plant Photos
I can't figure out what's going on in these photographs Eric Vance took. I mean, they're labeled "environmental justice," and they were taken in 2007. For the EPA. During the Bush Administration. So I can only assume they are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesomely Annoying: Creative Playthings Steel Drum On eBay
This is simultaneously the awesomest thing I've seen on eBay all week and the single worst idea for a kid's gift all year. Unless, of course, your kid lives in a padded, soundproof room, or you totally hate your...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 28, 2011
'Block Consultants' Teach The Test
Oh, brother, what to make of the NY Times' "Back To Blocks" trend story that leads off with a "self-described 'block consultant'" leading a class for parents in block play?As in fashion, old things often come back in style...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DTQ: ID This Awesome Viennese Pop-Up Playground Spielkugel?
Yoichi R. Okamoto had been LBJ's official White House photographer, but in the summer of 1973, it looks like he was shooting for DOCUMERICA, a massive EPA photo study project designed to assess the state of the environment, to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Presume You Did Not Buy This Baby Ewok
filed under: Items I Didn't Win At Christie's Legendary makeup artist Stuart Freeborn gave this baby Ewok puppet, which appeared in Return of the Jedi, as a gift to a journalist after an apparently delightful interview. And that person...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Scrapwood Playground At Tule Lake Internment Camp
In WWII, Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the west coast, stripped of basically everything they couldn't carry, and imprisoned in inland internment camps, rows of tarpaper barracks in the desert surrounded by barbed wire fences and guard towers....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 26, 2011
Untitled (Dollhouse) By Yinka Shonibare
Peter Norton has been doing this thing every year, the Norton Family Christmas Project, where he commissions an artist to make an object, that he sends out en masse to several thousand of his best friends in the art...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 18, 2011
What Is Your Deal, O Beautiful Fawn Sled?
My gosh, but that is a beautiful sled. Simple, rustic, even, but with incredible design. Kiosk calls it a Fawn Sled, and there are like one or two other retailer results with that name, but nothing else pops out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Star Wars Amigurumi
The best thing about amigurumi toys made using kotyar888's awesome Star Wars crochet patterns is not their cuteness, but the way you have no one to sue when your kid gnaws off those little beady eyes. There is no...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Play The Empty, Pointless Game Of Life! Shopping Center By Creative Playthings
The company limped along for a few more uninspired years, trying to keep up in the cheap, plasctic future of color TV & Rock'em Sock'em Robots. But if there was a single product that marked, by the laws of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 10, 2011
Has The Creative Playthings Housing Bubble Popped?
As the grown-up housing market goes, so goes the dollhouse market. And so a Creative Playthings slot-together ply dollhouse with the original box sold on eBay for half of what it was a couple of years ago--just like a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 9, 2011
Crazy Abstract Puzzle
While we apparently don't know anything else about it, the eBay seller who's finally clearing out the old stock from the toy store he closed 20 years ago says this crazy abstract puzzle "was definitely imported from Europe." Sure,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 4, 2011
RECALL NOTICE: Stupid-Dangerousest Disney Trikes Ever Made
Sometimes a toy is so obviously, stupidly dangerous, you hope it inspires extra attention and caution on the part of the adults around it. Take, for example, one of my favorite old Creative Playthings toys, the Inquarium In-Crib Aquarium. It...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 24, 2011
The Capitalist Tool's Rocking Ram
In addition to Queen Victoria's silk bloomers and stockings, the November 1 sale at Glasgow auction house Lyon and Turnbull includes this rocking ram, made by noted Chelesa folly architect Vernon Gibberd. Lyon and Turnbull are selling the entire...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 23, 2011
Jean Prouvé Swingset Mayhem
Whoa, check out the man going crazy on his rocket sled swingset! This image if from Ivorypress's new mook, Jean Prouvé 1901-1984, which is apparently/obviously pretty sweet. You can buy it from Walther Koenig, and/or see some more vintage...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 13, 2011
The Clone Wars Are A Trojan Horse For The Prequel Trilogy
Look, I'm as fed up with Lucas and as baffled by The Clone Wars as the next guy. And so I appreciate Michael Agger's game attempt to make a parent's guide for The Clone Wars. But maybe because it's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 10, 2011
This Week In Tentacle Kawaii: Alien Facehugger & Seussian Cthulhu
So Neatorama introduces an Alien facehugger plush toy the same time DrFaustusAU starts publishing his Lovecraft X Seuss mashup, The Call of Cthulhu? All we need is a plush great vampire squid doll, and we can declare this a toddler...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 6, 2011
Rockin' Boats
Oh man, check out the beautiful set of little handmade toy boats scored at the Pasadena City College flea market. They came in this even sweeter case, with little canvas pads on the lid to hold them in. Which...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2011
Re-Creation! Les Jouets d'Hermès Petit h
Hermès is preparing to launch the second batch of products objets and jouets made from the scraps and seconds of the Hermès workshops, the Petit h collection. [It's p'tee asch, so you don't embarrass yourself too badly when you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 2, 2011
WTF Cosmo Noah Tsunami Shelter/Playhouse
Oh, man, Shoji Tanaka, the CEO of Cosmo Power, says his company's latest invention, the floatable, fiberglass Noah tsunami shelter [JPY200-300,000], can "also be used as a toy house for children." It says it seats four adults, but I'm...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 30, 2011
Almost Close Enough: Lego VW Camper Van
In the time it takes you and the kid to build the LEGO Volkswagen T1 Camper Van, Volkswagen itself will have built, announced, and killed another Microbus concept. Tuck that away in your brick-loving head. Volkswagen T1 Camper Van,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 29, 2011
Antonio Vitali Bus Just Begging To Be Reissued
So beautiful. Antonio Vitali designed this bus for Playforms, a division of Creative Playthings. It is so trippy, I half expect it to come with a Verner Panton action figure. Vitali's carved out design was originally constructed from two...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 20, 2011
Antonio Vitali New In Box, Now 25% Off!
The more you don't buy, the more you save! That set of mint-in-box Antonio Vitali animals that was $4,000 [plus shipping] has now been relisted on eBay for just $3,000. Plus shipping. And that $20 in the picture is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Czech Made: Awesome Motorcyclists By Libuse Niklova
Mondo Blogo's got another round-up of crazy old avant-garde toys. This time the theme is Czech Designers Who Got More Toys Produced Than Ludislav Sutnar, Maybe Because They Stayed In Czechoslovakia. In other words, the Libuse Niklova retrospective at...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 17, 2011
Santa Maria, Vitali Bambina!
And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is how to sell some Antonio Vitali carved wood toys. Amazing. Previously: Holy Family! Antonio Vitali Creative Playthings wooden dolls, and family, and animals, and a freaking house/manger deal...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 5, 2011
MIB Museum Quality In Box: Antonio Vitali Animals For Creative Playthings
Well, if I hadn't just watch a slightly random assortment of Antonio Vitali toys go for certifiably insane prices on eBay a couple of weeks ago, this eBay auction would have made me straight-up roll on the floor and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 4, 2011
A Little Short For A Storm Trooper
I suggest you do what she says, and get Kristina Alexanderson's Clone/Stormtrooper photos one a day. Because clicking through them all at once is just too damn adorable. Oh, ok, just one more: CClone-365-2011 project and photoset [flickr via...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 2, 2011
DT Friday Freakout: Big Gulp Edition
Some news from the worlds of science, education, health, politics and parenting, designed to freak you out and ruin your long weekend. I confess, I watched Wall-E with K2 this week, so I've already got a head start on the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 30, 2011
My Name Is Gween. I Speak For The Twees.
Here is a set of toy trees from a green-themed toy company called Gween:Gween represents growth. The growth found both in a child and nature. Gween toys bring the two together. We believe that the future of the planet...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 27, 2011
Like-A-Bike Delivery Truck
This beautiful survivor 1972 Ford F-100 has never left Southern California. After three decades delivering motorcycles around OC for Irv Seaver, it retired with Seaver's shop manager to a life of well-cared-for leisure. Whether you buy it or not,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 26, 2011
Ostalgie's Rainbow: Dresden Rocket Slide
Beth from the awesome indie label Lemon Cadet was traveling in Germany when this vintage postcard jumped off the rack and screamed "Achtung, Daddy Types!" at her. So she had to get it and send it to me. [The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 25, 2011
Sweet Stash Of Antonio Vitali Wooden Toys On eBay
It's always tough to post about awesome Antonio Vitali toys, knowing as I do that the biomorphic, abstracted carved wood pieces are rare enough, and the prices are going to go high enough, that it's extremely unlikely any actual...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 22, 2011
Depressing Caption, Meet Awesome Chairs
The photo blog on The Atlantic has been running extended looks back at images from World War II. Today's theme: Japanese-Americans forcibly removed from their homes and businesses and shipped to internment camps in the middle of the freakin'...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 19, 2011
Speak, Pedal Car
A couple of years ago, car writer Roger Boylan published an article in Autosavant about Dmitri Nabokov's passion for cars. A few months later, Nabokov forwarded a rather incredible selection of family photographs, accompanied by his captions. Most are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 17, 2011
Madeline Dollhouse Wallpaper
I was waiting for J. Courtney Sullivan's NY Times article about her deep commitment to her childhood dollhouse to turn out not to be one of those adults-way-too-into-dollhouses stories. I guess the fact that she started going to dollhouse furniture...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 6, 2011
Awesome Creative Playthings Wooden Alphabet Letters
Full disclosure: I wrote this post within minutes of these things turning up on eBay. But these Creative Playthings wooden alphabet letters from the mid-1970s are so quietly awesome, I decided not to mention them on DT until I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 28, 2011
Filmore The Ur-Pillow Pet, From Creative Playthings
You know what's awesome? Vintage Creative Playthings toys from the 1970s, mint-in-box. You know what's apparently less awesome? vintage plush Creative Playthings beanbag chair animals from the 1970s. So far, no action at all from the eBay bidding sharks....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 26, 2011
Keep Calm And Carry A Stuffed Animal
Among the great photos In Focus published of London during WWII is this one: a small boy hugging a giant, kind of awesome stuffed animal. The simple form of the animal reminds me a bit of Renate Mueller, so...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 21, 2011
Kaleidoscope Dollhouse Wallpaper From Artware Editions
Wow, Artware Editions is swinging for the wallpaper fences. In addition to the artist-designed, roll wallpaper from Studio Printoworks, they're selling Maharam Digital Projects' huge collection of custom-scaled, mural-style wallpapers by dozens of contemporary artists. They look pretty awesome....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
WTFPlayhouses Of The Glorious Revolution
Now I know a thing or two about inordinately expensive playhouses. And I love Houston. And yes, it's true, I was an Internet pioneer-turned-blogger and have posed for Playboy. So you may be thinking it's hard to tell me and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 5, 2011
Toys R Us Is A Battlefield
At her NAFTAstic masculinity marketing blog The Achilles Effect, Canadian social media expert Crystal Smith decided to throw all the ads for boys' toys and girls' toys into the Word Cloud Generator and see what retrograde gender stereotypes came up....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 30, 2011
Holy Moley, Evel Knievel Shortster MINT IN BOX
Anyone remember back in 2008, when I asked everyone and no one in particular, "How many Evel Knievel tricycles do you think are still out there?" Well, it's taken almost three years, but we finally have an answer: AT LEAST...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 29, 2011
Whoa, Dare Wright Lonely Doll Photos At Bonhams
How'd I miss these? Did I not scroll all the way down? I was just updating the price results on last week's kids book illustrations roundup [short answer: pretty rough if your name's not Pooh], and there at the bottom,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 20, 2011
The Playtown Real Estate Market Is Bouncing Back!
Green shoots! Here is a bright spot in the real estate-obsessed economy of Southern California: this week LA Modern is auctioning a vintage Playtown Garage from Creative Playthings, which comes with car, gas pumps, roof hoist, and a bed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 12, 2011
Bros Before Pos
I was going to WTFpost about Bronies before heading off for a long weekend, but then I thought, "No, they whole phenomenon only started in January; maybe it'll be completely gone by Monday." And, no. As of 11:17, it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 9, 2011
Mr. Mole's Awesome Attic Playroom
The NY Times goes poking around writer Tom McNeal's house, which has a couple of rather awesome playrooms hidden in the eaves. Their kids are tweens now, but I imagine these were pretty popular back in the day. That...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 6, 2011
Crochet-Bombing
via @lizzieohreally comes the cutest crochet-bombed bicycle you'll see all day. [twitter, yfrog]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 3, 2011
Alexander Calder Rocking Horse Concept
Big Red Thing is a public archive site created by the art historian Jennifer Geigel Mikulay to collect memories, artifacts, and responses related to La Grande Vitesse, the giant Alexander Calder sculpture that became a civic icon for Grand...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 30, 2011
The Minimii Arne Jacobsen Dollhouse Is A Rareified Object.
Well, it didn't arrive in time for Christmas 2009, but it's available for 2011. And assuming you stopped buying anything else in anticipation of its arrival, you might have enough socked away. Of course, I'm talking about the Arne Jacobsen...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 23, 2011
Homeless On The Street, Knockoff Pushbikes Are Cracked
You can Skuut, but you can't hide. Sooner or later, that knockoff karma's gonna gitcha. Spotted by DT reader and Skuut Skout Rolf on the Lower Lower Lower East Side, Gold & Fulton Streets, Manhattan....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 22, 2011
Holy Family Circus! Antonio Vitali Is Tearing Up eBay Right Now
YOW. When I first didn't bid on a pristine, complete set of Antonio Vitali's Wooden Family dolls made for Creative Playthings, in 2006, $51 was enough to scare me off. When they sold for $229, I thought it was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 12, 2011
The Decline Of Aston Pedal Car-ization
The Queen can take care of herself, it's the Aston Martin pedal car that needs saving. Just look at these two cars, both for sale in Bonhams' upcoming Aston Martin Automobilia sale on May 21st: Lot No: 201 is an...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 5, 2011
Is This Chandigarh Playground Available To Order?
This playground structure from Chandigarh, Le Corbusier's planned city in India, is pretty awesome. If you really like it, just wait a while, and someone will loot it and bring it to auction in Paris, New York or Chicago....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 4, 2011
A LEGO Room With A View
Yeah, so it's not in a 40-room Georgian country manor in England, just a reno'd rowhouse in Cobble Hill. But at least the New York Times finally came through and showed us the damn Lego Room. Turns out it's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 29, 2011
Creationary Is An Awesome Word
At the moment, Creationary is the name of a game, pitched as Pictionary With Legos. But it seems like it has the potential to be so much more. When the thrill of building the "unique buildable LEGO dice" wears...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 21, 2011
Leggero Ventolino: Eine Kleine Wooden Bike Trailer
Leggero was the first European bike kid trailer like 20 years ago, and then something happened, press releases don't say what, just that "Now, the pioneer is back - with the Leggero Vento," which is manufactured in Switzerland, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 20, 2011
Crayola Colored Bubbles Are Disaster In A Bottle.
Andy Baio recently bought a house, which means he won't lose his deposit over of the insane, paint-splattered mess his kid's Crayola Colored Bubbles made all over their brand new deck. Crayola Colored Bubbles Wand Set, $12.99 plus several...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 18, 2011
Think Of The Family Of Children
Bwahahaahathisissoawesome. It's not mentioned on Old Chum's flickr page, so I asked. [Old Chum is actually the flickr stream of Vancouver's own heritage central, Old Faithful Shop.] And so we learn that this photo is from The Family of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 11, 2011
It's The Little Differences
So here's one thing I did not know before going on a Disney Cruise: the dolls are different for Europe. In the store on the boat--which, rather incredibly, felt like it was hardly open, mostly because they kept it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 5, 2011
We Want Lego Rooms, Where's Our Lego Rooms?
So you read that T Magazine story about Dinder House, that 40-room Georgian manor in BF Somerset or wherever England, and you get to the end, and what is the one thing you want to see?:At Crawford's suggestion, they...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 1, 2011
Playmobil Apple Store At ThinkGeek
The best ThinkGeek April Fool's Day products are the ones that you know are fake, but that you actually want to see anyway. With the careful attention to detail--the Woz at the front of the line expansion pack, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 30, 2011
Road To Kindergarten
DT reader Micah was freaky right when he said I wouldn't care about the content of the wired.com story, but the second he saw the completely unrelated photo, he knew it was a DT kind of thing. No idea...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 16, 2011
The Committee Car, by Brad Denboer
I always knew those Julian Opie characters were up to no good. Designer Brad Denboer just released The Committee, a limited-edition, old-timey iron-shaped toy car with an ominous story built right in. The price was not announced, but since...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 9, 2011
Teddy Bearskin Rugs
Miami-based artist Agustina Woodgate has been making elaborate rugs from the skins of recycled teddy bears for a couple of years now. They'd look pretty intense under one of those Campana Brothers stuffed animal chairs. Rugs | Agustina Woodgate...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 8, 2011
Who? Where? What? Pedal Car Museum?
East Sussex's most famous pedal car enthusiast and child at heart Phil Collins has thrown open the doors on his Mill Toy & Pedal Car Museum, which boasts Europe's largest collection of vintage pedal cars. Or does it? We...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 1, 2011
Mushroom Cloud Playhouse By Dietrich Wegner
OK, now we're talking. Though I fear it's no realer than the brand tattoos on his naked babies, Dietrich Wegner's mushroom cloud playhouse is apocalawesome. It was at Pulse Art Fair in 2009. Again, I think with a commission...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 28, 2011
Playhouse-Size Bridgehampton Farm Stand
At his latest show at David Zwirner Gallery, Philip-Lorca di Corcia is showing work he originally shot for W Magazine at the turn of the millennium. I'm glad he's finally showing it, because it's some of his strongest work....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 11, 2011
Elmo On The Bowery
Found Art (Bowery) Unmonumental 470, by Joy Garnett, 2011...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 8, 2011
And We Would Go On As Though Nothing Was Wrong
When I imagine Playmobil versions of real world things, I imagine amusing dioramas. Or chubby little hands moving the characters through the scenes, a la Todd Haynes' underground Barbie doll epic, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. So I can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 30, 2011
Playmobil Island Of Dr. Moreau
This is awesome. I'm surprised there aren't much more Playmobil movie remakes or Playmobil The News out there. Dr. Moreau playset [mathowie's flickr]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2011
Feminist Drives Princess Industrial Complex Off Road
The New York Times has given New York Times writer Peggy Orenstein's new book, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, a very nice, if slightly meta review. The book is based on an article Orenstein wrote about the Princess Industrial Complex a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 14, 2011
Very Much Like A Trike
When he saw the awesome plywood convertible balance trikes at the store, Andy at Beta Dad did what any self-respecting dad of twins who's already blown his $600 wad on a garageful of tools would do: he went home...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 12, 2011
Wow, Get The Catalogue For Toys Of The Avant-Garde
Holy smokes. After seeing the post here a few weeks ago, Patrick actually ordered the catalogue for the Museo Picasso Malaga's rocking exhibition, "Toys of the Avant-Garde." He just posted a whole slew of photos from it on Mondo-Blogo,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 10, 2011
Prince Charming's Nuts, Or Is He?
I admit, I haven't read all of child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim's 1976 treatise, The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. [It's hard to find it discussed online, if only because the first hundred or so...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Strong, Finnish: Sweet Molded Ply Ride-on Toy Via MidMod
So i've got a tag for molded ply, and a tag for ride-on toys, and a tag for vintage, of course. But at some point, it looks like vintage molded ply ride-on toys are gonna need a tag of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 3, 2011
Kay's Anatomy
Lot 207 in Rago's upcoming Discovery Auction deserves a post of its own, if only to keep its mysterious awesomeness from overwhelming the rest of the merch. You'd think that the four-pack of Kay Bojesen bunnies would be enough,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Auction Of Misfit Toys
There are a few interesting kid-related things in Rago's schedule-filling, warehouse-clearing auction next weekend: Lot 130 is a kid-sized Thonet rocking chair with a couple of reeds sticking up from the woven seat and a random side table thrown...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 1, 2011
Yeah, Baby!
Happy New Year from the Department of Small, Unsung Parenting Victories, where we just learned that last week, my wife persuaded the kid not to name her Lavender Unicorn Pillow Pet "Horny." Lavender Unicorn Pillow Pet, like $15 [amazon]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 22, 2010
Gloria Who? Knu Tries The Knockoff Approach To Selling The Red Ball Rocker
There's no doubt that it's a children's design classic. The question is, whose? A few years back, Knu was contracted to manufacture the "Red Ball Rocker" for DWR, a knockoff/reissue of the innovative molded ply Hobby Horse Gloria Caranica...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 21, 2010
Audi Pedal Car Sport May Actually Work
You know, DT reader/car guru DT makes an excellent point: most pedal cars are ergonomically awful, with pedals that require powerlifter thighs to get anywhere. [You remember trying to get that rusty old pedal car going when you were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 16, 2010
I Want To See 'Toys Of The Avant Garde'
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Wooden Toy painted by Pablo Picasso c. 1920s Painted wood and metal 23.5 x 36 x 23 cm Private collection. Courtesy Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte ©Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Málaga 2010 I've...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 11, 2010
Awesome 1800s Doll House
I'm sure it's painted with lead and arsenic, but this 1800s dollhouse in original condition is pretty awesome. Too bad [one of] the previous owner Nancy Allen isn't related; I totally would've fought my cousins for this. Massive Early...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 9, 2010
This Is What It's Come To
Having a kid will make you do things that will be unrecognizable to your pre-kid self. Like sitting here on eBay, getting ready to snipe just the right vintage Madame Alexander doll for Christmas....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 8, 2010
Small Child Once Lived In Large Loft
The other day I came across this book, Converted into Houses, from an era, 1976, where the idea of converting a loft or industrial building into a house was still novel enough to hang a book proposal on. Nothing...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 7, 2010
¡MOM A DT 33d & 00d Giveaway!
I'm so glad to see Pee & Poo, the cuddly toys from Sweden, advertising on Daddy Types again; I think they're awesome. And with free shipping through December, there really is no better time to buy. But to celebrate,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 4, 2010
I Even Made A Film About Ironing Once, And This Is Depressing
Hi, I just got back from schmoozing with the NetJetset in Miami Beach at the world's most money-soaked art fair, so now let me post the world's most depressing children's Christmas present! Forget the gender stereotypes of the JC...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 2, 2010
Grayscale Big Wheel
Forget whatever I just posted about the confusing morass of The Original Big Wheels. If it actually looks this awesome, I'll pay cash money right now for this grayscale Mighty Wheels, and I wouldn't care how long it took...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Who Gets The Original Big Wheel?
Have you tried looking for an old-school Big Wheel for your kid? What a e-commerce shitshow. There are, of course, Big Wheel-like products in whatever bigbox store you visit, but the pull of nostalgia is strong, and the dream...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 28, 2010
Citroen Puzzles From Rosie's Factory
I OWN a Citroen and this makes no sense. And you know what? That's just fine. From their history, I gather that the Belgian wooden puzzle company Rosie's Factory produces an oddly exhaustive collection of vintage car puzzles for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 13, 2010
Strange Pedal Car Fruit
I know if I were in the Forbes 400 like David Whitemire Hearst Jr., and I had a foundation set up to hold my collection of pristine and/or restored pedal cars, I'd certainly lend them to a museum. But...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 4, 2010
Vasarely Planetary Folklore Participations No. 1 [through 3,000]
You know what, maybe things weren't all awesomer and more exciting back in the olden days, when people lined up on Lexington Avenue to get the newest "chic Christmas gift of 1969" at Bloomingdale's. And when they used to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 1, 2010
Oh Kay! Bojesen Menagerie At Wright20
So you want a whole nurseryful of vintage Kay Bojesen wooden animals, but you've only got a couple of months before the kid arrives? No problem, Wright20's got your cost-no-object request covered. Though be sure to request the condition...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Just In Time For Anti-Christmas, The Omen Trike Can Now Be Yours
Sorry, kid in The Shining, but this is probably the freak-outiest tricycle in cinema history. Though the price estimate for this auction is nowhere near as scary as the 2008 original. And if it doesn't sell, brace yourself for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 26, 2010
¡Atención, Los Publicistas Del Museo!
I don't ask for much, really. I'm not one of those swaghound bloggers mucking around for free samples. Or blackmailing companies with the threats of negative posts because baby needs a new pair of Crocs. And though I mock the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 25, 2010
Build The Town Posters By Ladislav Sutnar
Wow, has it really been four years and two weeks since I first posted about Czech emigre designer [and area code parentheses inventor!] Ladislav Sutnar's beautiful-but-unproduced Build The Town block set? Well then, I'm only two weeks late in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 21, 2010
Training Wheels & Hand Grenades
"Lob in a play hand grenade, and finish off the rest with the submachine gun." Look, I didn't have one of those violin lessons & mufflers childhoods; I played my war in the ditches and woods like the rest...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 19, 2010
Wingnutsac
God Bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her, and guide her, while ignorant authoritarian religious zealots and their Alaska Birther husbands treat her as a high school cafeteria, and make taunts about the president's balls, which prompts the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 14, 2010
Wolfgang Rebentisch Designed The Hippo In 1993.
Seriously, I like Stokke, and I like the Hippo. And it's totally their call if they decide not to produce or carry it anymore. ergo:design in Germany picked it up, and it still rocks. But Wolfgang Rebentisch, the man...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 12, 2010
Oh, Hell Yes. Not Just A Crawligator. Crawligator DOT COM.
In practice, they may only ever pop up once or twice a year, but that still means that anyone can post a plain, old Creative Playthings Crawligator on eBay. But only one man, the visionary who registered it two...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 11, 2010
Coal, Minders, Daughter
Just when I was beginning to wonder whether anyone actually ever bought one of Brockhage and Andra's Schaukelwagen, DT reader and schaukelwagenmeister Andrew spotted this 1970 photo in the Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz:The GDR built up a network of day...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 4, 2010
Pamela Weir Rocking Horse
Southern California woodworker Pamela Weir-Quiton has been making what she calls functional wood sculpture since the 1960s. LA Modern has this rocking horse of hers from 1972 in their upcoming auction October 17th. It looks a little side-tipsy to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 3, 2010
There's More To Renate Mueller Than Jute Hippos
All the stuff I wrote 2.5 years ago about the New Hotness of eastern German toymaking legend Renate Mueller still stands: the only things different are that R 20th Century has finally amassed enough vintage Mueller to put on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 1, 2010
FAO Schwarz Coming Soon To A Toys R Us Near Your Downmarket Neighborhood
So 18 months after buying the crumbling premium brand, and 18 months before the lease expires on its only remaining retail location, Toys R Us is readying a Christmas plan to roll out F.A.O. Schwarz products into its 595 big...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 30, 2010
Genital Bleeding! Does The CPSC Have Your Attention For The Fisher-Price Mega-Recall Now?
In its great, revitalized mission to rid the world below our knees of potentially injurious protrusions, the CPSC has recalled more than 10 million Fisher-Price trikes, playsets, and high chairs. The biggest news is the 7 million kids' trikes--sold...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 29, 2010
Incredible Creative Playthings Collection Trickling Onto eBay
Over the last few years, a few of us have helped bring long-overdue attention to the amazing, innovative, vintage toys of Creative Playthings. Why? Partly to give credit and appreciation to the makers of the toys we might have...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 28, 2010
Whoa, Camel, Kalon Hut-Hut Rocker Now Available In Resin
I still have my suspicions that the Kalon Hut-Hut isn't actually a rocking toy, but a Fifth Element-style, 5-dimensional CNC-carved key to a wormhole in our saddle-slash-Pringles-shaped universe. Now that they've announced a $125 version molded from 100% recycled...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 27, 2010
OG Creative Playthings Alarm Clock
My brother the expert kidgiftgiver. When he came to visit, he rightly figured that any annoyance we might feel towards the Disney Princess Silly Bandz he brought K2 would be forgotten as soon as we were all woken up...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 20, 2010
Excuse Me, Doc, I've Got A Creative Playthings Scooter To Land
The last thing he said to me, "Doc," he said, "some time when the crew is up against it, and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to get out there and give it all they got and win...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 15, 2010
Oy Vey. Jewish Silly Bandz
You call that a dreidl? They look fine on Amazon, but at the Meshuga Bands website, I gotta say, these Jewish Silly Bandz knockoffs look kind of ghetto. Waitaminnit, the Amazon ones are actually called "Jewish Silly Bandz" and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 13, 2010
Parapluesch Mental Plush Toys
Orange News, the news service of the British mobile company, reports that some German hipsters have unveiled Parapluesch, a line of cuddly toys with collectible mental disorders. The toys--and the accompanying Flash game [more of a slo-mo Flash storyboard,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 2, 2010
Bwahahalvar Aalto Children's Playset
So what did we discover in the upcoming Rago Arts Discovery auction scheduled for Sept. 11? That even with "(Attr.)" and "unmarked" in the lot description, it still takes a pretty big set of stones to sell this pile...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 31, 2010
Vintage Euro Pedal Car?
The list of things I missed in Antwerp this summer is growing, one vintage Euro, iPhone-shaped pedal car at a time. This sweet little ride was at Atelier Solarshop on the day Dubieus Design, the vintage design and furniture...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 29, 2010
Mini Brothel By Atelier Van Lieshout
Alright, so it's not actually a toy. And yes, I know the estimate seems high. But you gotta admit, at 10.5 inches high, this 2005 maquette, Mini Brothel, by Atelier Van Lieshout, would be the perfect thing to park...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 27, 2010
I'll Take Crazy Vintage Dollhouses For $500, Alek!
There's gotta be a story or two here behind this incredible, handmade 3-ft wide, hexagonal dollhouse, which dt reader Christine just spotted on eBay. First off, obviously, What the hey? Those steeply raked rooms look like theatrical set tricks,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 17, 2010
Hate The Playa, Not The Happy Meal Toy
Happy Meal toys are the toy equivalent of McDonalds french fries, which are in turn the food equivalent of cigarettes. They incite and fill an instant craving. Their utility wears off in about five minutes. By which point, they've lodged...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 11, 2010
OG Tupperware Japan Toy
Check that out: The vintage/flea market shark who runs Swimsuit Department found a mint-in-box, vintage Tupperware Shape-O puzzle ball. From and in Japan. Apparently, they were called Tuppertoys there. Who knew? All I know is, my little brother and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 9, 2010
Once You Have Black,
You maybe should lower your opening bid. Especially considering a mint-in-box Creative Playthings steamroller without the beat, aftermarket paint job went for just $45 shipped. Creative Playthings U.S.A. Vintage Wood STEAMROLLER, opening bid, $19.95 + 9.55 s/h, auction ends...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 3, 2010
Have You Seen Me, The FAO Schwarz Range Rover?
So we had that bit about the FAO Schwarz Ferrari Testarossa, with a 5hp Briggs & Stratton motor and leather interior. But before that, through most of the 1990's, in fact, FAO's high-concept go-kart was apparently a Range Rover. With...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 23, 2010
Breitschwerdt Pferd: Some '70s German Non-Rocking Horse
Maybe this Breitschwerdt rocking horse from the 70s is in such good condition because no one ever played with it. I'll go ahead and assume that it rock-steps forward, otherwise I can't account for it. Breitschwerdt was supposedly a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Uh, No: BRIO Taureau
Wow. Maybe it'll grow on me. Maybe I can paint it brown and turn it into the rocking Jawa transporter I always wanted as a boy. Or maybe, holy crap, what happened? And how much does BRIO pay you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 22, 2010
BRIO Rocking Ox On The Block
It was listed at Wright 20 as "American c.1965," with a no-reserve estimate of just $100. But I guess at least two people recognized it as the Rocking Ox, introduced in 1967 by BRIO, the largest wooden toymaker in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
BldgBlog On BldgBlocks
Everyone's favorite architopian blogger Geoff Manaugh just geeked out over the massive collection of vintage blocks and building toys in the archives of Montreal's Canadian Centre for Architecture. The primary target of his fascination is Dr. Richter's Anchor Blocks,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 12, 2010
Quick, To The Wary Meyers Machine!
Look, I know that breathing leaded gas fumes has resulted in an entire generation of Americans who see nothing wrong with taking their parents to job interviews 1. But that doesn't mean we should throw groovy vans themselves into...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 30, 2010
Allons Enfants De La Patrie De Cette Handmade Teething Moustache Magnifique!
I'm sorry, did that last post about the esoterica of lead standards, and the Washington miasma of congressional lobbying not get my point across clearly? Let me try it another way: HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE! IF YOU DON'T CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
United We Etsy! Handmade Toy Alliance
The Handmade Toy Alliance is getting a boost from Etsy, which makes sense, because Etsy gets such a boost from the army of craftspeople and small business owners whose livelihoods are still set to be snuffed out by the industrial-scale...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 28, 2010
Ost-some! Spielwagen Pop-up Playgrounds In Berlin
It's not so much that communists hate children, it's just that the communist idea of fun centers on balls-out renditions of patriotic songs and large-scale choreography, not anarchic playground scampering. And so even after reunification, Eastern Berlin's parks and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 26, 2010
Woodworkers' Kids Always Have The Nicest Hand-Carved Rocking Toys
Holy smokes. Master California studio furnituremaker Rick Pohlers created this rocking toy for his own kids in the 1970s. It's carved cherry with a leather seat, and features Northwest Coast Indian-style detailing on both sides. It's not huge, either,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 21, 2010
Like-A-Crotch-Rocket: The Glodos Bit
The Glodos Bit is a tip-resistant walking bike for toddlers designed by the Spanish duo Marc Castelló and Sergi Teixidó. It's made from molded ply, aluminum, and Big Wheel plastic. It's an incredible combination of an Eames splint, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 7, 2010
The Future Is Here, And It's Riding A Retro Saab
Wow, I was on a hairy deadline, so I only just watched Apples's video for the new iPhone 4 [wipes tears away from eyes]. It almost makes me want to be a road warrior again, just so I can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 4, 2010
Mini Bugawho?
Ohdeeoh posted a handy roundup of toy strollers, complete with links to their earlier posts on each one. Front and center is this awesome-looking, homemade mini Bugaboo, hacked together from an aluminum picnic basket; the extendible feet from two...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 3, 2010
Your Moment Of Slot-Together Zen: Builder Boards
The post yesterday about Richard Dattner's awesome, slot-together, plywood panels from his 1966 Adventure Playground has unleashed a mini-wave of similar, if not quite as super-graphic designs. First up: Builder Boards, a playhouse construction set made of marine ply...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 2, 2010
FOUND: Richard Dattner Made This Mystery, Slot-Together Playground Equipment
It might take some time, but we here at Daddy Types aim to leave no loops unclosed. At least when it comes to awesome-but-obscure playground equipment. Three and a half years ago now, the NY Times ran the photo...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 1, 2010
It Is Killing Me To Miss Kidscreen's Transmedia Boot Camp Tomorrow
Kidscreen, the trade magazine for the kids IP industry, is holding the world's first ever, how-to confab for transmedia tomorrow in Santa Monica. It'll be led by Jeff Gomez, the high-powered, transmedia producer behind Starlight Runner Entertainment. The registration...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 28, 2010
Sarah Palin Had A Creative Playthings TV Camera Truck As A Child.
When Creative Playthings was struggling for relevance in the changing toy market of the mid-1970s, it seems corporate parent CBS had some suggestions. ["1. Less wood, more plastic!"] But there were also some cockamamie toys that look like they...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 27, 2010
Won't You Help?
Poor DT reader Kristen can't go back into her favorite Williamsburg thrift store because the late model Creative Playthings washer/dryer set is still there, taunting her with its early 70s era styling and its $50 price tag. Won't you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Seekin' Hide: American Indian Doll & Cradle
Speaking of antique craft and materials, check out this Nez Perce toy cradleboard, c.1880, which is coming up for sale at Heritage Auctions on June 11. It's only 9.5 inches high, perfect for Indian kids' little beaded hide dolls....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 20, 2010
Antonio Vitali Doll Chalet On eBay
Looks like the high end real estate market for dolls is beginning to rebound. I haven't seen an early 1950's Antonio Vital doll chalet like this on the market for a while, much less one that already has a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 13, 2010
Club Peguin X E*Trade Mashup
Even if it was a tangential reference in an entirely other post, we have mentioned Disney's $700 million purchase in 2007 of Club Penguin, an online subscription game world for kids, started by four dads, before. Mostly, because it was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 12, 2010
Return Of The Return Of The Jedi Playground Equipment
Boingboing ganked the scan without credit--plus he called it an AT-AT, when it's clearly an AT-ST/Chicken Walker, duh--but the ad for the incredible Gym Dandy Scout Walker Command Center With Speeder Bike Ride backyard playset was originally from the October...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 29, 2010
Noby, Joby. Joby, Noby.
While I was Googling around, trying to track down this fleecy-soft version of Noby Noby Boy, from the cover of the just-released-on-iTunes soundtrack of Keita Takahashi's PS3/iPhone game, I found out Cabel from Panic had a kid way back,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 26, 2010
Ausgezeichnet! Der Neue Schaukelwagen!
And here I thought I knew about all there is to know about Schaukelwagens. Turns out that not all Schaukelwagens are old. The Schaukelwagen did go into production soon after it was designed [in 1950 by Hans Brockhage and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 22, 2010
Little Office Space
This is so wrong in so, so many ways. Like five ways at once. I know the Little Tikes Young Explorer were just a cubicle, it'd be fine. Ridiculous and depressing, but fine. This actually has a low-to-middlin', kid-tuned...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Elmo/Broccoli Study
Maybe it's the lines of pollen she snorts off the edge of her crib every morning, but K2 has been having a rough time with itching and snot the last couple of weeks. So while we were at the pediatrician...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 19, 2010
The Fifth Axis: Hut-Hut Rocker By Kalon Studios
Coochicoos seems to have been taken in by Kalon Studio's email last week that their new Hut Hut rocker is optimally-milled on a 5-axis CNC machine from your choice of five FSC-certified woods, and that the name means Giddyup...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Today's German Lesson: Ein Schaukelwagen 'Sehr Bespieltes'
'Sehr bespieltes': I wish I could tell you it's German for "great project!" It is actually, "very played-with." And that's just what this Schaukelwagen that popped up on German eBay is: sehr bespieltes, also sehr berepaired. But at the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 16, 2010
Make One, Drop One. Need One? Take One. The Toy Society's Toy Drop Program
The Toy Society leaves little homemade toys in public for ye random other folks to take home. The toys have a little, "Take me home! Just spreadin' joy!" message and the URL of their blog, where "Found!" stories are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 14, 2010
We Stand On The Shoulders Of Goatcart-Riding Giants
And to think I wondered for a moment how relevant it might be to us as dads today, in 2010, to delve into the history of the crazy old toys our great-grandparents used to ride on. Longtime DT hero [and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 13, 2010
Crazy Old Playthings: An Internet Treasury Of Animals Pulling Kids Around
Wow, DT reader Sara either turned her kids loose in the street for the afternoon, or the whole clan has mad Googlin' skillz, because after Benjamin Harris's grandchildren's goat wagon, she sent a veritable parade of crazy animals pulling kids...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Crazy Old Playthings: Benjamin Harrison's Goat Cart
Crazy grandparental antics didn't start in the 20th century. President Benjamin Harrison, for example, gave his grandkids a bunch of goats, including one named His Whiskers, pictured here on the South Lawn of the White House pulling Goat Cart...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Crazy Old Playthings
They're starting to bubble up, photos of some of the crazy old playthings our great-grandparents made. That our grandparents managed to survive playing with. So they could eventually bring our own parents forth, and so on, and so on, until...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 12, 2010
This Is Not A Back Flip On A Big Wheel
Big Wheels are made of injection-molded plastic and would disintegrate before they left the ramp, never mind the impact. This is a backflip on a Big Wheel-shaped, steel-framed tricycle called the Trek MOD. Available in both blue and pink...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 6, 2010
Eames X House: Eames House Blocks By House Industries
EAMES EAMES EAMES HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE BLOCKS BLOCKS BLOCKS D'oh! House Industries makes it look so easy, but getting stackable awesomeness by mixing an icon of 20th century architecture with classic fonts turns out to be pretty damn hard....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Color Rally Blocks
I'd like to think that given our ongoing fixation on colored grids and blocks, I might have posted about Grimm's Spiel und Holz Color Rally Blocks by now. But there we are. Grimm's Spiel und Holz Color Rally Blocks,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Es ist nur eine Frage der Zeit
Yes, it is just a matter of time before the kid outgrows all that giant plastic crap you buy you end up selling it from a vacant lot in Tejas. See the full-sized image, and several other installation shots...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Richard McGuire + Liquid Liquid On Fallon
Holy smokes. Liquid Liquid performing "Cavern" on Jimmy Fallon. So Richard McGuire is like, "Now that two of my four awesome children's books are back in print, I can take a break from designing awesome motion graphics for PBS Kids...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 4, 2010
Sweet Amish Doll Quilts
I'm sure the vintage hand-painted woodgrain frame guys are going, "Doll quilts? Who cares about doll quilts?" But if you've got a babydollwrapping frenzy going on in your house, you'd probably be all, "Can you keep the frames and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 2, 2010
Gilbert & George Singing Sculpture Toy By Kit Grover
Wow. In the Fall of 1971 Gilbert & George's Singing Sculpture was the debut show at Ileana Sonnabend's new gallery in SoHo. The pair stand on a table in suits and spotted metallic makeup and execute a precise series...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Kiss Me Deadly: Awesome, Handmade Mid-Century LA Modernist Dollhouse
Check out this sweet & simple doll house Chris spotted on eBay; it's coming from Long Beach, CA:Created by a Los Angeles shop teacher clearly inspired by the case study and mid century modern homes that were being built...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 1, 2010
ThinkGeek's My First Bacon Is Everyone Else's Like Fifth Bacon
You know, maybe ThinkGeek was just a too busy bringing last year's most perfect April Fool's Day joke, the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, into actual production, that they didn't notice the entire industry that has risen up to putting little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 31, 2010
Anorak Now Available In Indie Toy Format
Finally! England's awesomest--and awesomely expensivest--indie kid's magazine is now available in a toy! Each 3-inch high polyurethane resin version of Anorak will be handmade to order by Matt, so allow around 10 days to ship it out. Also, important...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 29, 2010
250 Creative Playthings Maple Blocks On eBay
Usually, a big set of Creative Playthings blocks like this comes out of a church basement preschool, and they're kind of gnawed on and gnarly. But these maple blocks look surprisingly clean and ready--to get gnawed on by your...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 27, 2010
Ferrari Plush Steering Wheel, &c.
From cutrate car seats to baby-sized pit crew jumpers, Daddy Types has long documented the hilariously tacky crapitude of Ferrari's licensed merchandise. No car brand I can think of has such a chasm between the autos themselves and the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 21, 2010
You Say Donald Judd Photocollage, I Say Donald Judd Dollhouse Schematic
Donald Judd bought 101 Spring Street, a 5-story cast iron loft building, in 1968. He raised his family there and used it as a studio and office space until his death in 1994. The Judd Foundation is closing the building...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 20, 2010
Kent Rogowski, Bears, Have Issues, Need Hug
The reaction among Teddy Bear Artists to Kent Rogowski's Bears series, which consist of portraits of abandoned teddy bears turned inside out, runs the gamut from to . But if there's one thing they can agree on, it's that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 17, 2010
We Are The Easy Bake Oven Generation
Regular readers of Daddy Types, who know better than anyone just how fascinating and insightful I am, can appreciate it when I say that I am, without a doubt, the least interesting thing in Adweek's in-depth article about [not]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 16, 2010
Knitscape 2.0
Wait, 1978? Didn't we just come through the craftiest era since the invention of macrame? Why has no one knitted an awesome landscape play blanket for a kid born in the 21st century? Which would mean updating it, by...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 15, 2010
Froebel Who? Herzog & deMeuron Condo Model Blocks On eBay
You know how Frank Lloyd Wright said he became an architect because his mother gave him Froebel blocks to play with as a child? Well, guess what, everybody played with blocks as a child Frank, what else ya got?...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Pesci Di Mari, Polpo Di Mari, Mammiferi Acquatici Di Mari
Since I only obsessively tracked down the info, dates, and materials for all the editions of Enzo Mari's iconic 16 Animali puzzle, I don't know which edition of Mari's sequel puzzle, 16 Pesci, has been obsessively photographed, up close,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Ahh, Spring: Birds, Flowers, Marilyn Neuhart Dolls At Auction
I'll admit it, when it comes to writing about some seemingly basic new parent topics, I feel a bit burned out sometimes. It gives me a new-found appreciation for the folks who write parenting magazines and have to come...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Window To The Soul
I'm not reading it, and I've really got nothing to add on the topic, except to say that I will be totally unsurprised if Rielle Hunter hasn't timed her GQ article to the launch of her momblog. Otherwise, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 12, 2010
Cabbage Patch Doll Portraits By Andy Warhol
The list of "baffling things that happened in the 1980s which I was completely unaware of at the time" has grown by one: Andy Warhol was commissioned by Roger Schlaifer to make portraits of Cabbage Patch dolls in 1985....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 5, 2010
There's A Party In Las Vegas! Yo Gabba Gabba Movie In The Works
So Entertainment Weekly gets the leak that Juno director Jason Reitman is involved in a Yo Gabba Gabba! movie. Considering that truly awful kids' TV shows like Dora The Explorer and Rugrats are shoveling out long-format TV specials and even...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 1, 2010
Ado Blocks By Ko Verzuu
Alright, now that I bought them, I can post about these incredible blocks designed by Ko Verzuu in the 1940s and made by ADO, the Dutch toy and furniture company run by and for the mentally disabled community patients...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 26, 2010
Pepsi-Cola Playscape By Jerry Lieberman
Does any headline capture the 1960's ideal playground better than "A Child's Garden of Plastic Delights"? Beginning in 1965, Manhattan designer/dad Jerry Lieberman, under the sponsorship of Pepsi-Cola and the National Recreation and Park Association, worked to develop a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 25, 2010
I, For One, Welcome Our Ki No Haguruma Overlords
First, let me apolgize in advance for any feelings of inadequacy that may stifle your own woodworking projects after watching these videos. Don't sweat it. Your day job probably isn't in the engineering, mechanics, manufacturing, robotics or design industry, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 24, 2010
Never Saw: Enzo Mari See Saw
Mamma mia, how could I have tracked down every variation of Enzo Mari's iconic 16 Animali puzzle last year [on Feb. 25!], and yet somehow I missed l'Altalena/ See-Saw? What an awesome-looking book. Michael has a full set of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 22, 2010
American Kids Don't Need No Kaufladen To Sell Their Apples On The Street
Kids in the US get play kitchens. Kids in Germany get play sales kiosks. Which country has a childhood obesity problem and which one has already pulled out of the recession? That's what I thought. Kaufladen by Hase-Weiss, EUR290...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 21, 2010
Giacometti-esque: Bumming Man
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 5 table, originally uploaded by MrsBadger. How's that for proof of concept? DT regular Becster...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Betty Thomson's Multiplications Cubes Now Have Five Google Results
The moral of this story is, if you see a garage sale at one of those Ice Storm-lookin' houses in Connecticut, pull. over. Do you want to play a game? [mondo-blogo via andy] Previously: but they're clawing their way...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 19, 2010
'The Earliest Known American Rocking Horse'?
At some point, when there's just so much great stuff, one right after the other, it's neither accidental nor mysterious. Nevertheless, John Foster's blog accidental mysteries is a non-stop stream of awesome finds. Let's look at this one, shall...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 17, 2010
Sherrie Levine's Shiny, Rocking Playthings
I don't quite follow how these sculptures of vintage children's objects cast in bronze fit in with Sherrie Levine's ongoing questioning of authorship and originality. They're not quite as iconic as, say, Marcel Duchamp's urinal, which Levine had previously...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Brinca Dada Dollhouse v0.9 On eBay
Weird, and interesting. DT commenter MC recognized the newly unveiled brinca dada Emerson dollhouse--from an eBay listing last December. Sure enough, Here it is/was, and it sold for a whopping $407+75 shipping. It's not clear whether this was a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Wanted: Alberto Giacometti-esque Dolls
Alright, now that the modernist upstart toy company brinca dada has broken the mold on dollhouse families, DT commenter Teufelkindsvater suggested going all the way: I think little dolls made out of twisted wire or dark bronze coloured Sculpey...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Playhouse Modern: Emerson House By Brinca Dada
From the twittering sound of things, I am the only dadblogger who didn't make it to Toy Fair 2010 this year. So I'll have to wait to see the Emerson, a new modernist dollhouse by brinca dada [that's day-duh,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 16, 2010
Lead Bear, Lead Bear What Do You See?
Alright, I'm back! Did I miss anything?The products, which were made in China for Target's in-house brand, were identified as the retailer's two "Message Bears" - one a pink stuffed bear with "XOXO" across the chest and the other...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 10, 2010
4900 Fuse Beads, After Gerhard Richter
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Fuse Beads, After Gerhard Richter, originally uploaded by gregorg. We'll get through this Snowpocalypse one...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 9, 2010
Round And Round And Square By Fredun Shapur
Fredun Shapur's illustration and design work is as awesome as his name, and it baffles me how little information about it exists on the web. Shapur did toys and graphics for Creative Playthings, including an iconic series of posters...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 4, 2010
Awesome Dollhouse, Much Else, Made By Joel
Joel is an at-home dad in Portland, where he just finished building this awesome modernist dollhouse for his son Jack. [His daughter's apparently more into bicycles at the moment.] Hardwood dollhouses are sweet. Holy smokes, he made all the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 3, 2010
Knockoff London-In-A-Bag
Wow, just because they don't have labels doesn't mean you can knock them off. The Museum of London is selling a London-in-a-Bag play set which is a straightup ripoff of Muji's original -in-a-Bag series of toys, which were created--in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 29, 2010
Just Some Princess And Some Frog Necklaces Recalled For Toxic Cadmium
FAF Inc. of Greenville, RI has charmed generations of children with their magical animated storytelling, their pioneering theme parks, and their unparalleled merchandise. In just a few short years, they created one of the most powerful little girl brands,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 24, 2010
ShapeMaker Blocks By Miller Goodman
Zoe Miller and David Goodman design a fine-looking collection of kids products for the Tate's gift shop, but they pulled out all the stops for their own debut toy: ShapeMaker blocks. These rock. The graphic simplicity, flexibility, and creative...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 18, 2010
Das Gutenkinderauktionblogposten
The German auction house Quittenbaum has a design sale coming up in a couple of weeks, February 9th, which includes some classic pieces of vintage kids design and a couple of oddities: Lot 90: First up, the classic Schaukelwagen convertible...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 17, 2010
Exposition Playmobil Au Musée Des Arts Décoratifs
Last month, the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris opened an exhibition of the history of Playmobil. The show is timed to commemorate Playmobil's 33rd, 34th, or 35th anniversary, depending on who's counting. Or the death in 2009 of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 15, 2010
IKEA Train Track Configurator Calculator
John Graham-Cumming took a break from calculating the number of licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop to write a quick program that calculates the number of possible loop configurations for the 16-pieces of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Hub Discovery Brand Network Kids Hasbro Dynamic DNA Concept Fail
My first The Hub was the expensive, preppie men's clothing store in Raleigh when I was growing up. I got no beef with them. In fact, I still have my first three-figure handknit sweater, which I purchased there in 1984....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 14, 2010
Bauhausgezeichnet! Alma Siedhoff-Buscher Blocks On eBay
An original Bauhaus children's toy by the Bauhaus designer, Alma Siedhoff-Buscher. It is a Bauhaus Building Block Set, circa 1923. The set consists of 48 rectangular blocks in different colors in their original presentation box. The box size is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 13, 2010
Spiral Staircase Slide
I love it when a plan comes together. A friend had emailed just the other day, asking if I knew of any more awesome slides built into houses besides that underground eco-dreamhouse deal Alex Michaelis built in London. And...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 8, 2010
I'd Totally Keep That Picasso Toy Guitar, Too
Paloma Picasso was born in 1949, which means Pablo probably made this little toy guitar for her in the early 1950s. Picasso was in the sculpting zone at the time, creating playful, iconic works like his mother baboon with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 3, 2010
DONE: The DT Instaproject Doll Cradle
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Well, it's done, and just in time, but don't look for me to be opening...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 31, 2009
DT Instaproject: OGGG Grandpa's Cradle
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } 1/2-in poplar boards instead, originally uploaded by daddytypes. Clock's ticking. And right away, I find...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 30, 2009
DT Quick [?] Project: Great-Great-Great Grandma's Cradle
K2's 2nd birthday is coming up quick, and I remembered that the wife and I had talked about getting her a cradle for her dolls--her babycount's already surpassed Angelina Jolie and is on its way to Octomom territory. When...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 23, 2009
DT@FR: Black Bebes Pour Tous!
Marche du Noel, Aix-en-Provence: Found this shop full of black babies in a town full of white people more than a little odd/disturbing. The only explanation I can come up with is Brangelina....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DT@FR Rocking Crocodile Toy in Lourmarin
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } DT@FR Rocking Crocodile Toy in Lourmarin, FR, originally uploaded by daddytypes. Some Place in Lourmarin,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 16, 2009
All You Want For Christmas Is A Crawligator?
Let me suggest that if you really had a Crawligator on your kid's Christmas list and you haven't picked one up already, you'd do well not to quibble over the high opening bid on this one. Instead, just count...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 15, 2009
Uh, No. Unicorn Taxidermy On Etsy
The last two times we've been to Costco [Sorry, Jim, I'm weak!], the kid has fixated on a horrible, awful, giant piece of crap toy horse that looks like the Budweiser Clydesdales. It doesn't rock, it doesn't look like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 14, 2009
A Very Special Monday Mommy Mailbag
So what vital information do publicists have for you parents/ladies? Toys"R"Us Helps Take The Worry Out of Holiday Shopping for Moms With its Annual Toy Guide for Differently-abled Kids Last-minute holiday season can be stressful for moms, and particularly so...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Big Old Wheel
This is the 2nd coolest Big Wheel in the world--after the one you had as a kid, of course. 1940s steel & aluminum circus tricycle/big wheel, $435 [modern50.com]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 13, 2009
Playsam Dollhouse! By Eva Schildt
Wow, look what I just found at Noojii, the baby gear shop DT reader Sven runs in Hamm, Germany [midway between Dusseldorf and Hannover]: a Playsam dollhouse by Swedish designer Eva Schildt. At just 30 cm high, the dollhouse...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 1, 2009
Designers We Ripped-off, D'oh! We're Repentant!
Haha, in the middle of the reporting for Fast Company's long, devastating takedown of Design Within Reach, their screwed up CEO--the one who opened all the unprofitable stores and began proudly and systematically knocking off designers in pursuit of a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 30, 2009
As Like-A-Bike As You Can Get
It's taken a few years and a pile of knockoffs, but Kokua has reached the ontological limits of the Like-A-Bike: Inches in Germany? Like-to-Bike 16-in. children's bike, by Kokua [liketobike.de via dt reader nelson] Update/flashback: BMW's walking bike has a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 24, 2009
More Eames Molded Ply Animals
In 2007, the Eames Office and Vitra produced a limited edition molded plywood elephant that was based on a 1940s prototype Ray and Charles exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art. [There were originally two elephants made--see above--but only...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Holy Smokes, Holy Folks!
Here's the first stop on my search for plush Ten Commandments: Holy Folks. Aren't they adorable? Their little hands are magnetized to hold their accessory--and to pray. And their beady little eyes look like they'd choke an unimmaculately conceived...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Knockoff Ripoff Within Reach: Plan Toys Walking Elephant
Somehow my thorough ignoring of what DWR's up to caused me to miss this: a ride-on, walking elephant made from molded rubberwood ply. It's different enough from its obvious inspiration, Ray and Charles Eames's molded ply elephant [which DWR...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 23, 2009
If It Was Only The Plush Mohel Scissors, It Would Have Been Enough
Ah, Hannukah, you're almost here. One of DT's favorite Jews, Marjorie Ingall, has compiled a list of so-wrong-they're-almost-right Hannukah gifts, for the Jewish life & culture magazine Tablet. It is awesome. Check it out. The ten plagues finger puppets, we...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 21, 2009
So What Else Isn't Muji Bringing US For Christmas?
I know I should wait until after Thanksgiving, but I can't. It's a DT Nov. 21 tradition! Take a look at some of the Muji Xmas 2009 Awesomeness--that is only available in Japan: Blackboard matryoshka dolls, chalk included, Y1200. Wood...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Muji X Lego Papercraft Colabo
Just in time for Kurisumasu! Muji x Lego had a genius product breakthrough: combine cut paper with Lego bricks to make--whatever you want. Muji designed four play sets, complete with pre-cut paper and all the tiny little bricks needed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 20, 2009
Bojesen Auction Awesomeness
See that, learning a new vintage toy is just like learning a new word: now you notice when they start turning up. Take this beautiful for example: the rattan doll pram Kay Bojesen designed in 1949 for Wengler, which...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Tell Your Army Of Adorable Mask-Wearing Pandas To Stand Down, IKEA!
I'll buy the little alien helmet mask. And the plush, Ikea-colored viking helmet. Oh, what's that? Someone's rifled through the bins like a bowl of M&M's in a Van Halen dressing room or a box of marshmallow-less Lucky Charms,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 19, 2009
ЯIP: Gunther Kilsheimer, Creator Of Toys R Us Logo
No way, did you know Toys R Us started in Washington DC? It began as a baby furniture retailer in Adams Morgan [in fact, the original store is now a blues bar called Madam's Organ. All the Baby Boomers raised...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 17, 2009
Hey You! Go To Shrimp Shop This Saturday In Los Angeles
Andy from Stork Bites Man and Ryan from The South Willard are having a colabo joint for kids starting this weekend. It's called the Shrimp Shop. Here's just a taste of what to expect:Boro Pants Ceramic Mobiles Creative Playthings...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Fageol Walkee Tricycle On eBay, Tetanus Shot Not Included
Wow, this looks incredible. Vintage industrial kid gear. The Fageol Walkee Tricycle takes its name from its inventor, Christopher Walkee. Haha, no. William B. Fageol and his brother Frank built the first bus. Their company, the Fageol Motor Company,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 15, 2009
Take Me To Your Little Brother's Homemade Spaceship On Etsy
Ah, what are older brothers for? For selling the insane flying saucer playhouse your dad or whoever spent 8 months straight building for you on Etsy for ten grand, that's what. The one with the removable dome, the reclining...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 12, 2009
Ceci N'est Pas Un Caketopper. Custom Wood Doll Family
You know that NY Times article about custom wedding cake topper artists? Me either, but DT reader Eric did, and that's how he found out that Fancie Fannies also makes non-cake topper dolls, with kid-safe non-toxic paint. So he...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 10, 2009
OG Ply At Design Council
You know how, though he made an entire nursery for his own kids in his listed-and-open-to-the-public house, and how he did a bunch of toys for them, too, this is the only picture of Erno Goldfinger's modernist toys that ever...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 7, 2009
T Is For The Tiniest Shoppers
Wow, who at the NY Times T Magazine offices is having a baby? Because almost the entire Winter Design & Living issue is devoted to kid- and family-related design. Some highlights: Fred Bernstein's got a piece about how it's alright...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 6, 2009
Struts RIP, Or They Shot Whorses, Didn't They?
It started this summer, and so it has nothing to do with having kindergarten friends who take riding lessons. But otherwise, we are unable to account for the intensity of the kid's current horse-and-unicorn fixation. The one bright spot...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 4, 2009
Every Lego Family Speaks Lego In Its Own Way
So awesome. At The Morning News, Giles Turnbull has gathered several families' names for various Lego parts into one fascinating chart. Fascinating, yet useless, of course, since your own lingo is probably different:"Dad, I'm building a roof for the medical...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 3, 2009
Don't Cry For Wii, Australia
The Baby and Me video game for the Nintendo Wii is only launching in Australia, but who cares? You can make your own right at home. Here's the concept for the Australian version: Your baby reacts by giggling, gurgling...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 31, 2009
Vintage BRIO Rox: Molded Ply Ox
You know what might turn BRIO's fortunes around? Bringing back this molded plywood rocking ox with the red horns and foot rests and the blue felt seat that they introduced in 1967. Seriously, stack those things like Pringles and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
BRIO? Indies? Toy Casualties Mount In CPSIA Trainwreck
It's been a while since the CPSIA has been in the news, or at least since anyone's sent me anything about it. The CPSC's new lead and phthalates restrictions and testing requirements for childrens' products kicked in earlier this year,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 30, 2009
Japanese Rainbow Elmo's Super, Thanks For Asking!
Sanrio introduced these rainbow Elmo cell phone straps last year in Japan, as if the only problem with Elmo is that he's red. Elmo Dreams in Rainbow Colors cell phone straps [muppet wiki via Mr Brian Design]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 29, 2009
Have You Seen Me? Vintage Mystery See-Saw At Grain Edit
There's probably a long German word for the kind of suffering that comes from not knowing where a cool vintage toy ad came from. And another one for the annoyance of scanning something and forgetting to make any reference...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Vintage Playground Indy 500 Simulator
It looks kind of unwieldy, but this sweet piece of OG playground equipment is only 4' long and 2' high, small enough for toddlers--and small enough to ship via Greyhound. Even better--for me, anyway, I'm sure it means jack...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 27, 2009
Talmudic Toy Teasers
Here I was, reading about all these awesome Torah and Talmud Toys and wondering where I can get some--Toy Eglah Arufah Everything you need to act out the matter of the Eglah Arufah (literally, the decapitated calf). Toy Eglah Arufah...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 23, 2009
Busty Meccano Nanny & Pram By Andreas Konkoly
This won't be news to the readers of Pram Watch, the official blog of the Pram Museum, but to the few stragglers and delinquents among us, I say take note: "All nannies have a motherly bosom, and if you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 19, 2009
Yes, Please, Thanks: Lego Kitchen By Simon Pillard & Philippe Rosetti
Damn, but I love/hate the Internet. How a simple idea, beautifully executed, can race around the world in serendipitous hops and jumps, shedding facts and context along the way. I don't know who Philippe Simon and Pillard Rosetti or...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 15, 2009
What Is A Puppenhaus, Alek?
That one SoCal roadtrip when I tried out for Jeopardy!, I got dinged in the final round. And yet nearly twenty years later, here I am, filing the most random bits of information away in my head for no...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 13, 2009
From The Mixed Up Archives Of Mrs British D. Sign Council: Play Rocker Prototype By John Millns
No sooner is one vintage kids design mystery solved than another takes its place. The British Design Council has published its slide collection online, including this rather awesome-looking "child's rocking play fixture," which uses the same special, NASA-designed bend-into-shape...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Holy Smokes, It's The Tyng Toy!
The Tyng Toy was created by the brilliant young architect Anne Tyng in the late 1940's. It's probably the least well known of toy from the Golden Age of postwar modernist kid's design, an era which also saw toys...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Random 1940s See-Saw Still Around, Mistaken For Antique
New Jersey auction house Rago Arts has a $1,000-2,000 estimate on this c. 1940s homemade ply & pine see-saw they're selling in a couple of weeks. Even if it does convert to "a stepping toy," when you flip it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 8, 2009
Inflatable Solar System Just Like The White House
So for the last few months, the wife has been working on a big astronomy event at the White House, which just went down tonight. [High five, baby, you pulled it off!] She had 150 middle school kids, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 6, 2009
My Grandfather's Clock, The Eerie Song On My Kid's Version Of My Fisher-Price Clock
Naturally, I had no idea as a kid, but as soon as one of those Fisher-Price Teaching Clocks crossed my grown-up path this weekend, I started wondering what that song was. I mean, if it's going to be my ringtone,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2009
Awesome In Theory: Fisher-Price Classic Toys
The Fisher-Price Teaching Clock I had as a kid is long gone, but the kid honed right in on Joel's yesterday at the flea market. She bought it for ten bucks. [I know, but I wasn't planning to teach...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 4, 2009
Like-A-Segway: Gyrowheel By Gyrobike
The old way to teach a kid to ride a bike was training wheels, of course, and the new OG way was on a pedal-less walking bike like a Like-A-Bike or one of its many knockoff/competitors. Now there's a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DT Found It: 'Sculptures For Children,' By Frances Weiss
Last fall, I'd wondered aloud who the unidentified artist was in Life Magazine's 1951-52 photos of some surreal sculptural playground equipment. All I could figure out was that some of the Jan. 1952 pictures were taken at Tibor de...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 1, 2009
Dutch Plywood Awesomeness By Gerrit Van Bakel
Whether it was the name of his collection or it's just Dutch for "plywood furniture," Gerrit van Bakel's "meubel multiplex" phase lasted from 1966 until the around 1981. During that time, the artist cranked out nearly 80 different rounded-edge...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 28, 2009
Damn, But I Hate You, Happy Meals
It's been a couple of years since some random punk and his dad at the McTable next to us told the kid that there are supposed to be toys in a Happy Meal. [As payback, I told him about the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 18, 2009
From Ford's Dept Of Awesome/Horrible Ideas
After bugging my dad for months asking why we couldn't get a Citroen Karin, I learned not pay too much mind to concept cars. So the downright goofiness in the Ford Transit Connect Family One Concept of storage bins...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 10, 2009
And A Little Woodworkblogging On The Side
Swedish illustrator Anders Nyberg keeps a blog for all his wacky side projects. Come for the fantastical wooden toys, stay for the giant Lego "thing" Nyberg and his daughter made one Sunday afternoon using all their Lego pieces. Anders Nyberg...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 8, 2009
Thank You, Creston's Mom!
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } , originally uploaded by creston funk. DT reader Creston Funk's parents rather awesomely saved his...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Triumph Of The Crayolatariat
On the Fourth of July, we took the kids to The Crayola Factory: A Hands-on Discovery Center in downtown Easton, Pennsylvania. Though it's impossible to say such crafty entertainment could not be found without three hours in the car, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 3, 2009
This Week In Doll-Sized Real Estate Marketing
This Creative Playthings, slot-together, 2-story dollhouse is a later model, being sold unfurnished, and it's in good-but-played-with condition, so no museum piece. Still, I'm surprised it hasn't gotten any bids yet; back in the day, $99 might have been...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 2, 2009
Old Timey Pedal Cars At Bonhams Run The Awesome Gamut
There are three standout pedal cars in Bonham's upcoming auto memorabilia and classic vehicle auction Sept 12. They are presented here in decreasing order of estimated price... Lot 293, a bare metal restoration of an Austin J40 pedal car, complete...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 1, 2009
Mad World: If Kids Designed Their Own Xmas Toys
Seeing this old Al Jaffe spread from Mad Magazine was an "epiphanic" window into the design process for either Wary or Meyers, I'm not sure which. Also, it was one of the first things she or he picked out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 31, 2009
Gold-Plated Creative Playthings Dollhouse Bathroom
Now I love Dino like a brother--a brother who gave me a very fair price on a beautiful, old, Elephant Gray Eames RAR shell, and who added a truly excellent reproduction Eiffel Tower base--and who attached it for free,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 28, 2009
Hyperchouette! Willow & Juniper Baby Rattle From Provence
During the summer lull, Kiosk has posted a little mini-market of finds from Provence, including this awesome, handwoven baby rattle they found at the Saturday market in Apt. It's by a potato basketweaver from Cadenet--which happens to be just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 27, 2009
Playgrounder Comes Out To Play
Before the kid was born, and I had a hard time finding any baby gear I could stand to live with, I thought I'd keep a list, so the next guy Googling around for an industrial-style changing table could use...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 24, 2009
Unplayed With, Ungnawed On: Awesome Creative Playthings Steamroller
It doesn't get any better than this, folks. If by "it" you're referring to vintage, 70s-era Creative Playthings wooden steamrollers, gift-ready and new in the original box. Whether it's worth at least $45 for your kid to have the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 19, 2009
Larger-Than-Average Mickey Mouse Merchandise
1st Dibs: Come for the odd 1950's Mickey Mouse see-saw salvaged from a Miami Beach drive-in theater [$2,500 at Pierre Anthony Galleries in West Palm Beach, via anonymous works] Stay for the even more distended Mickey dresser, a head-scratching,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 15, 2009
Bears On Melting Ice By Masahiro Minami
Japanese designer Masahiro Minami has come up with a fun, playful way to teach your kid how the SUVs are killing all the polar bears. Just like the Industrial Revolution killed off all those ice floe-hopping brown bears. Have...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Kay Bojesen, Resistance Fighter?
From the Kay Bojesen Samling exhibition at the Rudersdal Museums comes this fascinating bit of context about the creation of one of Bojesen's signature toys, the Royal Danish guard:At its birth in 1942, in the midst of occupation darkness,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 13, 2009
My Left Foot [Powered Hop-along Hobby Horse]
For want of a www., a day was lost. It took me until now to realize I was missing the www. on the URL for my blog server. Stay tuned for pictures of the Audi grille that was destroyed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 10, 2009
Lovely Parting Gift: Gerrit Rietveld Dollhouse
I thought I'd tracked down every last kid-related design Gerrit Rietveld ever made, but it turns out I'd only covered the furniture, not the dollhouses [!]. Gerrit Rietveld presented the plans for this dollhouse to the Jesse family, repeat...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 9, 2009
Yes We Cane! Rattan Kids Furniture By Kay Bojesen [?!]
Is there anything that Kay Bojesen didn't make? In 1949, he created an export collection of rattan [spanskrør] kids and doll furniture for R. Wengler, basketmakers to HKH Frederic IX, King of Denmark. And the awesome pram above--sorry, doll-size...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 6, 2009
Thingamababy Totally OWNS The Baby Gloton Breastfeeding Doll Story, BTW
I know that it's suddenly flared onto the big gearblog and WTFblog radar, but AJ had that chup chupi chupiriffic Baby Glutton Spanish breastfeeding doll story down like three weeks ago. And he's got the hundred+ fervent lactivist comments...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 5, 2009
Men Shop At Mars, Parents Shop At Venus
Well, it's taken me a few years, but I think I finally have it all figured out: parenting, the difference between moms and dads, between quality and crap, between magazines and blogs, how to fluff an advertiser. And it's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Indian Bamboo For Kids By MP Ranjan
Prof. MP Ranjan sounds like the Eames and Enzo Mari of Indian design. Or at least Indian bamboo design. He's the head of the Centre for Bamboo Initiatives at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, where...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 3, 2009
Creative Playthings Store By Studio Works
I'm trying to remember how I found my way to architect Lester Walker's website, but I don't have any trouble remembering what stuck there: the sweet, futuristic retail store that Studio Works designed for Creative Playthings in 1969. Studio...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 31, 2009
DT Friday Freakout: No Toms, Dustins Or Leos Edition
Have we got a pile of overhyped science and alarming news stories to ruin your parenting weekend! "Does Breastfeeding Cause Autism?" This insane headline is the reason the Freakout was created. It is also practically a quote from the UCSF...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 21, 2009
Purple Mountains Of Farm Toys From Sea To Shining Sea
Leaving Philadelphia on the 5th of July, we decided we wanted to be anywhere but I-95, so we headed to DC via the farm country of Lancaster County. Of course, the only Amish Experience we could expect is that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 20, 2009
Finally, Stitch Wars Is Here, And Not A Plush Jar-Jar Binks In Sight
Sheesh, teasers from Stitch Wars, the Star Wars-themed indie craft exhibit/sale at Bear and Bird of Lauderhill, FL have been dribbling out for so long, it felt like the release of Episode I. But it's finally out, and after...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 18, 2009
Creative Stranglings: CP Indoor Gym House [Of Strangulation] On eBay
Wow, you don't see these on eBay very often. Nowadays, the company known as Creative Playthings makes nothing but slides and playground sets. But back when Creative Playthings was Creative Playthings, this was about it. The Indoor Gym House...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 16, 2009
Pfeiffer Opens Kaiku's Kimono
kaiku: sweet molded ply wagons and toy strollers set to drop this Fall but how do they look? website only teases: "little modern movement" AND?? whoops, hip designer's portfolio shows the goods inadvertently [?] kaiku design: little modern movement...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 15, 2009
One Backwards R To Rule Them All
Wow, so last we heard from Toys R Us & Babies R Us, they were buying up F.A.O. Schwarz, or whatever's left of it--a soon-to-be-evicted, toy store-themed amusement park on Fifth Avenue, and parents' vague, vestigial fondness for Tom Hanks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 14, 2009
Felix Gotze: Eine Kleine Schaukelmotorrad
I've been trying to link to this all day, ever since DT reader Rolf tipped me off about it, but the original site who posted German designer [whose facebook says Hong Kong?] Felix Gotze's Motorcycle Rocking Horse has been...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 12, 2009
Real-G: Life-size Gundam Lands In Tokyo
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } CIMG6990, originally uploaded by ryoki. That is mecha-mazing. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Gundam,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 10, 2009
Blackhawk Down At Toys R Us Right Now!
For purposes of blogging, I'll assume these are real ads, and not just linkbaiting comps. Creative Review says the stills from this ad campaign for Mattel's Matchbox collection come from Ogilvy & Mather's office in the happy happy, good...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 6, 2009
4 Million Aqua Leisure Baby Floats Recalled For Drowning Risk [!]
If you thought reaching a live customer service rep at Aqua Leisure was hard before... The CPSC just issued a recall for over 4 million baby floats made by Aqua Leisure between 2002 and 2008 and sold until June...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Slides Rule: The 517 Awesomest OG Suberidai In Japan
Andrew posted a few pictures of vintage Japanese slides [suberidai] on his blog, and I realized it's been two years since I visited iharay's amazing online collection. He's up to 517 slides now, and not even half of them...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
You Gank My Battleship!
The trick with the Monday morning What's New? email blasts from the vintage design gurus at Virginia-based Three Potato Four is realizing that they actually put the items in their online shop Sunday night. Usually, that means the awesome...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 4, 2009
Build-A-Heroin-Filled-Bear
On Independence Day, let's take a moment to celebrate what makes America great: like a network of drug dealers in the Bronx moving their heroin around the tri-state area inside Build-A-Bears. And the free press who keep referring to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 29, 2009
Dollpocalypse Now
The horror... the ridiculous horror... I've been trying to work out the script where this dopey gringa gone-native is Dennis Hopper, and the man living on this abandoned doll-covered chinampa is Kurtz, which would make the canals of the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Reference Library, Max Lamb, Enzo Mari At The Selby
The homebrewed messy modernist snake has eaten its tail, and it looks awesome. Andy Beach's April retail colabo in Milan with Apartamento Magazine has now gotten the The Selby treatment. Which means you can see the full-color, reissued awesomeness...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 26, 2009
Hello Gundam?
A Taiwanese fan made this for Gundam's 30th anniversary. Stay tuned for the launch of the matching Pink Base. Deco-Gundam [pinktentacle via c-monster]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 23, 2009
Now About That History Of Soft Play
I just realized it's been two whole months since I learned that those giant foam wrestling mat-style playgrounds are called "soft play," and that the leading design and manufacturer for soft play areas, in malls, anyway, is a Denver-based...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 17, 2009
Just Do What The Muppets Say, And No One Gets Hurt
Yeah, sure I knew Jim Henson's Muppets predated Sesame Street and that most were created for commercials. In the abstract. There were even a few Muppet ads screening last summer at the Smithsonian's otherwise forgettable Jim Henson Legacy exhibition. But...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome Homebrew Coffee Bar/ Play Kitchen
Come for the chalkboard paint in rainbow colors, stay for the awesome little stainless steel play fridge. Craig was one of the earliest DT reader/contributors, and a big modernist design fan, as you can see from the incredible homemade...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
So You Wish You Had An Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Pedal Car?
DT reader Katy sends along a photo of a cute kid in a wienermobile from flickr megapoweruser mattlogelin's photostream. And the obvious question is, "Where can I get one?" Well, they turn up on craigslist and eBay. About 16,000...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 16, 2009
Ausgezeichnet! New Renate Müller Animals--By Renate Müller
Sure, you might see a sweet Renate Müller stuffed animal, made in the 70's from leather and jute--the East German cashmere!--for sale here and there. Andy Spade's new store has/had a whole pile of them. But here's a caption...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Those Pasties Look Like Choke Hazards Anyway
Miss Coco, this plush burlesque hoochie mama by etsy maker Jellibat, has already been sold. [jellibat's much tamer etsy store today, via tryhandmade]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hola, Puerta De Los Alphabet Blocks Grandes!
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Reconstruyendonos II, 2009 by Belkis Ramirez , originally uploaded by C-Monster. Most artists just show...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 15, 2009
More Than Model Trains: Mid-Century Modern Kibri Dollhouse
Well here's one hint that German model maker Kibri had a serious modernist thing going on in the early 1960's: check out the swingin' Kibri doll house at Virtuelles Puppenhausmuseum. The doll house, model 158/9, was modular and extendable,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 11, 2009
Mass Modern Auction @ W20: Thinking Of The Children
Part of me wants to shout out about all the interesting-looking kid stuff in Wright20's upcoming Mass Modern auction June 27, and part of me wants to shut my piehole, because there are lots of lots being sold no reserve,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
'Dov Working On Various Construction Projects'
For those who have a hard time imagining American Apparel CEO Dov Charney making anything other than a complete, skanky, sexual harassing ass out of himself, this slideshow of all the crafty toys and furniture he made as a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 8, 2009
One Was Johnny
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Johnny Carson & Nauga, originally uploaded by grickily. The other was Nauga, and the third,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 7, 2009
Creative Playthings Miracle: "Immaculate" Play Kitchen
Just a sec, I need to update my list.... DT's Words I'll Never Hear Describing Vintage Creative Playthings Play Kitchens list Pristine Mint Immaculate Never Been Played With Free Shipping OK, I'm back. And what better to do on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 5, 2009
Ikea Slide, Now In Convenient Take-Home Size
One of our Ikeas somewhere had a slide at the entrance to the kids section, which was mildly awesome. But either I forgot which Ikea it was, or they tore it out, because it's gone now, which mildly sucks....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 4, 2009
The Family That Flays Together Stays Together: Freaky One-Eyed Kid Car By Elmer Presslee
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Now how is it that a kid in a music video full of rubber, gore-faced...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 2, 2009
Wood Paneling Dollhouse
One of the kid's early trademark phrases, which she learned by listening to me call my wife to tell her where we were in our NYC-DC commute, was "Somewhere in New Jersey." Near as I can tell, that's also...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 1, 2009
Crazy Racers That Go-Go-Go! [Out Of Print]
With the end of preschool approaching, I've been stockpiling some craft and toy and art projects to keep the kid busy. At the flea market today, we scored a couple of pristine, c. 1960 activity books from Whitman Publishing of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 31, 2009
They Don't Make Rickshaw Tricycles Like They Used To
Yes, venerable playground fixture Angeles Tricycles still makes a tricycle rickshaw, the Silverrider. But a few decades of lawyering and design tinkering has taken the edge off. And added some paint to the raw, simple beauty of the galvanized...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 28, 2009
F.A.O. R Us
Toys R Us is owned by Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts. TRU has announced it is acquiring F.A.O. Schwarz, a company whose primary assets consist of two retail leases [NYC, which expires in 2012 and is being...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Malaise Era Creative Playthings Dump & Derrick Truck - NIB
The compleatist, collector, or gnawed-wooden-toy-ophobe will be bidding against each other for this New In Box Creative Playthings Dump & Derrick Truck that just appeared on eBay. Me, I'll sit this one out. Even though the ability to switch...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Mecha Bojesen Mega Auction
Though Kay Bojesen has been reduced to expensive teak monkeys today, back in the day, he was a veritable one-Dane, wooden Playmobil, replicating even the most random corners of the modern world in his signature, modernist toy style. At...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 20, 2009
The 8-lb Vespa-Riding Gorilla In The Room
From Hypebeast, the hipster press release transcription service beloved by corporate brand managers the world over, comes an announcement about a hundred scooters dropping:Aside from the 100th Anniversary Apparel Collection, quintessential brand Fred Perry collaborates with legendary Italian company Piaggio...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 12, 2009
Neutraface Blocks: Teaching The ABC's Of Typefaces Since 2009
So awesome. Before House Industries introduced their Alexander Girard-inspired blocks a couple of years ago, the mid-century modernist alphabet block market was in a rut. Actually, it didn't exist, but that's not important now. What's important is that House...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 8, 2009
What's Wrong With This Piet Hein Eek Picture?
If you ignore my sloppychoppy highlighting, nothing. But HOLY CRAP, DWELL MAGAZINE! If you're gonna have a fine interview with Piet Hein Eek, and then you add a 27 [!] slide slideshow, DON'T have the caption on the 27th...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Faces Tape By Our Children's Gorilla
The Swedish kid's design company Our Children's Gorilla has advertised on Daddy Types before, but they come up with such awesome stuff, sometimes I think I would pay them to write about it. Seriously, I think I'll PayPal them...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 6, 2009
Pininfarina Giulia Rocking Horse Object For Riva 1920
The names Pininfarina and Giulia go together like, well, like Alfa and Romeo. So I was a little concerned that would Pininfarina blithely attach the name of one of its founder's last and greatest creations to anything, much less...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 5, 2009
Molto Colani! The Limited Edition Luigi Colani Action [sic] Figure
Decked out as they are in remarkably detailed recreations of the butter yellow trenchcoats the Professor created for Swissair in 1990 and possessed of the maestro's intense, visionary gaze into the biomorphic future, the 1/6 scale collectible figures of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 4, 2009
Fou, Fou, Completement Fou! Hermes Pour Les Petits
OK, the massive auction of vintage Hermes stuff coming up at Artcurial in Paris on the 20th better be because hedge funders are scrambling for liquidity in the face of the global depression. Because if 700+ lot sales of OG...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 1, 2009
Mille, Pedal Car By David Seabra
The finalists in the Prix Emile Hermes design competition were exhibited at Milan last week. If there had been a category for awesomest ride-on toy, I'm sure Portuguese architect David Seabra's Mille pedal car would have won. Also the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 30, 2009
It's Baaaack! Knu Re-Reintroduces "Rocking Beauty," Gloria Caranica's Red Ball Rocking Horse
Or is that, "Knu re-reintroduces 'Red Ball Rocking Horse,' Gloria Caranica's Rocking Beauty"? I got this press release in my inbox the same time as some other folks, but I wanted to get some more info before posting about...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Living On The Earth [While Mostly Naked, And With A Kid]
As soon as I saw the cover of Alicia Bay Laurel's Living on The Earth at the library sale, I knew I was buying it, and as soon as I opened it and found out the whole thing was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 28, 2009
Just One Word: Plastic Crawligators. OK, Two Words
Dads of future boogie boarders of America take note: there's a Crawligator on eBay, and right now, it is only eleven bucks. $77. still not a record. UPDATE: The Crawligator bubble has not popped. It went for $405. Crawligator,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 27, 2009
Birds On A Tree? How Can That Be?
The Creative Playthings junkies mourn today, at least all the ones who didn't win the auction yesterday for this pristine and rarely seen Birds-on-a-Tree puzzle from Creative Playthings. Fantastic, and in a palette that'd match the kitchen you grew...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 22, 2009
Milano Watch 2009: Color Me Villa?
On the bright side, it's nice to see that Magis didn't invent a method for turning petro-plastic into cardboard to make Javier Mariscal's Villa Julia playhouse. On the, uh, not so bright side, the Villa Julia may be the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Milano Watch 2009: Magis, Giant Plastic Dodo Not Yet Extinct
A giant plastic rocking Dodo debuted by a giant plastic manufacturer at a giant furniture and design fair in the middle of a depression while the planet's climate is deteriorating? Magis is ironic like a #$%ing Hummer turning donuts...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Who Makes Those Airbrushed Wrestling Mat Playgrounds?
Did you know that those Habitrail-like indoor playgrounds made out of plastic tubes and padded pipe were invented in 1982 by Jack Pentes? And that his soft modular play [SMP] solutions alleviated baby boomers' fears of letting their kids...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 21, 2009
Recycled? And How: Color Me House Cardboard House Wins Dr. Toy Award, Costco Deal
I've been covering the children's cardboard industry long enough to know that recycling is the norm. What I don't do, though, is go around trading on my purported reputation as a toy expert by anointing straightup knockoffs with meaningless...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 18, 2009
Score One For The Little Bunny: Bankruptcy Court Orders Oilily To Remove & Destroy Rosa Pomar Knockoff Bunnies
Wow. If I'm reading my Google Translator right, Rosa Pomar has won. Fearing that publicity and criticism of Oilily's knocking off of Pomar's stuffed bunnies could derail the sale of the bankrupt company, the Dutch court trustee appointed to oversee...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 8, 2009
Just Give'em A Cardboard Box To Play With
So a publicist sent me [1] a Nintendo DSi the other day, which I still haven't opened yet. Though I'm a video game culture guy, I'm not really a video game guy. And I try to be upfront with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 6, 2009
Oh Give Me This Home, Where Las Vaquitas Roam
Because I will not be spending $19.5 million to buy it. New York Magazine cuts a line of pure real estate China White in their feature on this 7,000-8,000 square foot duplex loft atop a West Village garage. But...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Toys Our Grandfathers Built Are Now Antiques
On the way to get a haircut this weekend [in DC, Georgetown], I was stopped by this awesome, homemade pedal plane in the window of Metro Interiors, one of the few clean 20th century vintage shops I've found in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 2, 2009
Not April Fool's, But Also Decades Late: The Death Star Beach Ball
Lucas, I oughta... just ship the damn thing already. The R2D2 Inflatable Drink Holder can wait. Shiny kid from A.I. not included: Death Star Beach Ball available at Target [starwars.com via boingboing]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 31, 2009
It's A Miracle! Giganta And Rocket Slides Are From The Same Company
It's obvious now, but until a couple of minutes ago, I had no idea Giganta the scary/awesome playground robot and the biggest, awesomest rocket-shaped playground structures were both made by the same company, Miracle Equipment Company of Grinnell, Iowa....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 30, 2009
BRIO On Swedish eBay: They Don't Make'em Like They Used To
And for a moment it looked like they may not make them at all anymore. But thanks to the excellent sleuthing of previous DT advertiser Christopher Robin of Our Children's Gorilla, we can enjoy a few sweet vintage BRIO...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 25, 2009
Richard Dattner's Habitot, The Ur-PlayCubes
Wow, awesome. While poking around a bit more on urban planner/architect/playground designer Richard Dattner's PlayCubes concept--which, according to the 2000 monograph of Dattner's work, seems to be doing just fine, thanks--I found this: Habitots. And this is what we...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
PlayCubes: The Richard Dattner MidCap That Didn't Stick
Along with Paul Friedberg, architect Richard Dattner has been one of the most influential forces in modern playground design in the US. They both championed the adventure playground concept in the 1960's, which called for the transformation of underused...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 23, 2009
Picture Yourself On A Plane. On An Island. A Bunny With Flower-scope Eyes
So while I'm waiting to see any response from Oilily about Rosa Pomar's flower-eyed bunny dolls and what looks like a cut-n-dry case of knockoffery, some new developments have come to light about the history of one design element...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 22, 2009
Oilily, AKA The Dutch Portuguese Indies Plundering Company
Those Dutch, always with the greedy, unilateral attacks on the Portuguese Indies. In the 17th Century, it was the Dutch East Indies Company seeking to wrest control of lucrative spice trading routes in Asia that were controlled by the Portuguese...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 21, 2009
Happy 50th "Birthday" To All The Little People Out There
What could warm a parent's heart more than sharing a treasured memory of a favorite toy with his own child? Today, March 21st, is the "officially marked" 50th birthday of Fisher-Price's Little People. That's right, the awesome little figurines...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 20, 2009
Brio 26 Tile Pick-Up Game
I confess I can't remember at the moment, but I love whoever gave us this Brio Pick-a-Pair game like family. And it's beautifully made, with endearing designs that were no doubt applied to this high-quality hardwood by happy, skilled,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 18, 2009
Welcome To The Hotel Dora: You Can Grow Out Of It Any Time You Want, But You Can Never Leave
I knew it was a bad week, finger-on-the-pulse-wise when I learned about Nickelodeon and Mattel's plans to launch Tween Dora on NPR's weekend quiz show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." But I needn't have worried. That was just the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 17, 2009
Ahh, The McMemories
As any serious doll collector knows, Yolanda Bello's doll designs for Ashton Drake, in her own eloquent words, "redefined doll collecting as the world knew it" when her first doll, Jason, a romping tot in a blue cloud suit designed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 13, 2009
Caonimama? Pushmi-Pullyu The Next Symbol Of Chinese Internet Freedom
When I bought this sweet, fuzzy vintage Pushmi-Pullyu doll on eBay a couple of years ago, I thought it'd be fun for the kid. Only when it arrived did I see how hilariously unplayable it was for a toddler,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 11, 2009
Plush Your Mother: Grass Mud Horse Dolls In China
Long Duck Dong, freedom fighter! The NY Times has a report about a fascinating protest movement that's sweeping the Chinese internet. In response to a massive political crackdown by government censors, ostensibly targeting vulgarity and porn, millions of net...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 6, 2009
Barn Find? Creative Playthings Moon Buggy
My wife works for NASA, and yet I had no idea our country faced a dire shortage of wooden moon buggies until this old-timey Creative Playthings moon buggy turned up for sale on eBay. It's the first one I've...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 26, 2009
The Skeeving Of Lot 1069: Little Kid Stuff From The Michael Jackson Auction
Apr 15 UPDATE: The NY Times reports that the auction, which Jackson had originally authorized, then recently opposed, has been canceled. Also, instead of "the large turnout" that had been expected, "only a few dozen fans and passers-by were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 23, 2009
Can Your Mother In-Law Make A Crawligator This Awesome?
A couple of weeks ago, when we started huntin' Crawligators in the Internet swamps of eBay and craigslist, DT commenter John suggested this blog post, where a little kid in the Bay Area named Sibyl was cruising around on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 19, 2009
Daddy Types Love Roller Bears
When you have a website called Daddy Types, you're pretty aware of how often you talk about how fun it is to play with bears. These little carved wood bears from Germany, which roll back onto their feet on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 17, 2009
Brio Bork Bork Bork Bork! What's Swedish For "Bankruptcy"?
Actually, the word that matters most to the venerable Swedish wooden train maker right now is likviditeten. Liquidity. As in, cash. As in, after disappointing sales, extended operating losses, and extraordinary expenses, Brio is facing what its board of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Friendly Frontier: Climb Every DIY, Inflatable Slide-Equipped Mountain
Friendly Frontier is the second is the artists Zoe Walker & Neil Bromwich's Dummy Landscape series. It's an inflatable mountain range, "of the kind so commonly used by nature to divide countries," which is equipped with inflatable evacuation slides....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 15, 2009
Mad Mod Ply Dollhouse Prototype On eBay
This sweet, birch ply modernist dollhouse just turned up on eBay, where it's described as "one of just a few modern dollhouse prototypes designed and built by an architect-cabinet maker team. Designs were based on modern houses by Le...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 12, 2009
Brother, Can You Spare A Crawligator?
The Creative Playthings Crawligator is one of those awesome, fun-looking, no-brainer toys that looks like it should be on the market forever. Like a Hula Hoop or Rock'em Sock'em Robots. Unfortunately, the little baby belly skateboard didn't survive the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 9, 2009
Ronin Playtown Fire Truck By Creative Playthings On eBay
In the mid-1960's, Julian Winston designed the Playtown series for Creative Playthings, which included playsets for an airfield, a marina, a garage, and a fire station. With no fire station to serve, this masterless wooden fire truck, sweet and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 7, 2009
Dude Makes Indy Pedal Racer Out Of Pots & Pans
Suh-weet. Hoosier native and kitchen raider Joseph Inhat made a sweet, 1930's Indy-inspired pedal car for a 4-year-old he knows [kid? grandkid?] out of pots, pans, and a maraschino cherry lid. Pictures of the build are at Hemmings' blog....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 6, 2009
Hans Beck, Father Of Playmobil, 79
Hans Beck, who became the chief of development for the Brandstätter Group toy company after he created Playmobil in 1974, died last week at the age of 79. Playmobil's German inventor Hans Beck dies aged 79 [guardian.co.uk] image: detail...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 5, 2009
Everything Must Not Go! Court Spanks CPSC, Upholds CPSIA Phthalate Ban
Short story: If you make or sell plastic or vinyl children's products, you can forget whatever plans you made for the weekend. Slightly longer story: The Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen sued the CPSC over exceptions the Commission...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 4, 2009
Girard In The House!
House Industries pioneered the Alexander Girard objet revival in 2006 with their awesome wood blocks set, which they adapted from the sun-covered matchbooks Girard designed for the Casa del Sol restaurant in NYC. That's the House approach: adapt some...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 2, 2009
Naef Bau Bau: Swiss Building Toys NOT For Tinkering
Who's ever even heard of this Naef Bau Bau birch building set designed in the 50's by Gert Muller? As far as I can tell, the thing's only been published in two tiny pictures in the Kurt Naef biography....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 1, 2009
November Was Nakaban Month At Chigo
Chigo is one of our absolute favorite baby stores in the world, which is too bad because it's in Tokyo, and we haven't been for a while. Which means we missed the veritable Nakabanpalooza they held last November. I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Yeah, Right. You're Not Gonna Fool Me With That "Naugahyde Comes From Naugas" Crap Again
You know how when you were like seven, your dad told you that the bar stools in the rec room were not vinyl, but a special kind of leather that only came from these mysterious creatures called Naugas? And...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 30, 2009
Creative Playthings And, Uh, Other Playthings
Andy found a 1970 New York magazine review of the Creative Playthings store on 53rd Street which, unfortunately, replaced their awesome original store in Rockefeller Center. Here's my favorite line: "I do wonder about the value--educational or play--of live fish...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2009
Tchotchkes We Can Believe In? Toy Obama Air Force One
Maybe the problem is that crunchy liberals have been out of power for several breeding cycles? But it's not like the neo-con's Torture Me Elmo was a big hit, either. Maybe making toys that are simultaneously propagandistic and fun...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Elsie Marley And Her Patchwork Steam Shovel
It was always said that Elsie could craft in a day what a 100 other etsy.com sellers could craft in a week. I hope it's not too Henry B. Swap of me to point out there are enough buttons...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 20, 2009
Ferrari Bikes 70-80% Too Expensive
The catalogue copy for the Ferrari children's bicycles is maybe more revealing than intended about exactly who they're for:This licensed Ferrari bike is simply beautiful in every detail. The perfect first bike when your child has to have the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 19, 2009
Betty Thomson's Multiplications Got Spanked By The Yoshimoto Cube
90% of dadblogging is just what shows up. Just a few hours after I stumbled across Multiplications, I stumbled across the Yoshitomo Cube. Here's the deal: In 1969, The Museum of Modern Art commissioned artists and designers to create some...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Don't Let Your Child Choke On Those Plush Ovaries
As soon as Los Angeles plush artist Wendy Bryan found out that the plush ovaries and Fallopian tubes on her I Heart Guts plush uterus posed a choke hazard, she immediately announced a recall. Even though the plush uteri...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 14, 2009
Alright People. We Have A Serious Creative Playthings Situation In New Jersey
If you thought the recent eBay appearance of some unusual--and unusually well-preserved--Creative Playthings toys being sold from Hamilton Square, New Jersey--a town within easy commuting distance of CP's vintage headquarters in Princeton--was a fluke, think again. The same eBay seller...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 13, 2009
Two Down, Thirteen To Go! Unidentified Local Family Drives Extremely Identifiable Bugaboo
Does the sender of the first photo of a Little Marc Jacobs X Bugaboo in the wild still win a 'daddy type' t-shirt if she's also a Bugaboo publicist? Yes she does, but I'll keep the offer open for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 8, 2009
Skip*Hop Adds Trike*Bike
Interesting. Skip*Hop keeps expanding its product line beyond the low-profile diaper and stroller bags which gave the company its start. And now they've picked up what I believe is their first distribution deal; they're now the US distributor for New...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 6, 2009
She's A Children's Product! Burn Her!
I want to fix the CPSIA, the CPSC's new lead testing law, and save all the various children's product industries from regulation-induced bankruptcy and collapse on February 10th as much as the next guy. But I would like to do...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 1, 2009
Playing For Kepes
So far, I haven't been able to get the LIFE Magazine photo archive on Google to return more than 200 images at a time. So who knows how many photos Ralph Morse actually took of the awesome nursery Juliet...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 31, 2008
I'm Gulliver, Dammit!
Uhh, wow. Just, wow. With only a few hours before the deadline, I have found The. Craziest. LIFE Magazine Archive Photo of 2008. It's by Ralph Morse, and it was a, uh, well, it's about the introduction of Troll...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Playsack Turns Classic "Bag-On-Head" Punishment Into Hours Of Flame-Retardant Fun!
Hmm, look what else is in that New Jersey basement. An unopened Creative Playthings Playsack, which, as you could probably guess, is a giant paper bag that a kid is supposed to play in. The eBay description is intriguingly...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 30, 2008
What The Schnell? Has Any Kid Ever Even Ridden An Alurunner?
The Alurunner sled answers the burning question absolutely no one who hasn't just downed an entire bota bagful of schnapps is asking: What would you get if a German performance tuner like AMG, Brabus, or RUF started with, not...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 29, 2008
Porsche, VW & Ferrari Sleds Are Exactly What You Would Expect
Which is to say, the top-of-the-line Porsche sled is an over-engineered, high-performance, aluminum-and-steel category killer of almost obnoxious simplicity. The cheaper one is plastic, and it tries to make you to forget that it's basically a Volkswagen. Also, it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 27, 2008
Ladislav Sutnar, Vik Muniz. Vik Muniz, Ladislav Sutnar
That's how I like to see my favorite Ladislav Sutnar prototype blocks: in a giant photo in the New York Times, accompanying an excellent review of Vik Muniz's awesome "Rebus" exhibition at MoMA. Roberta Smith says "Rebus" is fantastic...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 23, 2008
DIY Bantha Plush: Finally, Something Good Comes From The Star Wars Holiday Special
Anyone who has ever seen the 1978 variety showsploitation travesty that was the Star Wars Holiday Special cannot pretend to have been betrayed by the treacly offenses of baby Annakin and Jar Jar Binks. We knew Lucas had it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Know Exactly What You Can Get Oakley For Christmas
And no, it's not sunglasses. It's an awesome, giant stuffed ball made from a muted-yet-whimsical selection of 100% recycled wools. Hopefully, your Oakley's parents aren't too hippieish about natural fiber stuffing, because anything but polyester turns this into Oakley's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Modular Prefab Dream Finally Realiz--Wait, It's A Dollhouse
Until the real estate market exploded, modular prefabricated modernist houses that were intended to combine the quality finish and economies of off-site construction, but that ended up costing as much as, if not more than, straight-up custom design were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 22, 2008
The Smallest Plywood Dollhouse
Etsy seller Petit Flaneur makes this interesting-looking little doll house--and I mean little, it's only a foot high--out of printed, papered hardboard and filled with "birch micro-plywood" furniture. Including a sweet, micro-plywood crib that should give the CNC types...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 20, 2008
Not In Time For Christmas: OG Handcarved Pull Toy By Antonio Vitali
Don't not buy this incredible hand-carved wooden donkey pull toy from Antonio Vitali's early, Swiss National Crafts Store days before he started working with Creative Playthings, because the opening bid is a whopping $399. Don't buy it because the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Calvin Klein Dollhouse By Josh Prince-Ramus
Uh, wow. OK. Calvin Klein, which is now owned by Phillips-Van Heusen, commissioned Josh Prince-Ramus, the guy who bailed on Rem Koolhaas to start his own firm REX, to design a dollhouse for the Madison Avenue store's holiday display....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 17, 2008
First, Dump Out The Dry Cleaning Solvent: DIY Pedal Car From A 55-Gal Drum
I lost the pictures, but when we went to the Pioneer Day parade in Ivins, Utah last summer, there was, in the parking lot next to the inflatable slide that got so hot in the desert sun, kids would come...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 15, 2008
Awesome Molded Ply Slide Of Doom From Creative Playthings
They sure don't make'em like they used to. And even as the safety-loving half of me is relieved, the awesome, molded plywood simplicity-loving half of me is in mourning. Just take a gander at this vintage portable slide from...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 13, 2008
Grand Magasin: It's Kiosk For Commies!
With the US government busy de facto nationalizing major swaths of our crumbling economy, this Christmas season is a good time to turn our attention to the glorious, proud, worker-owned co-op factories of Europe--and then go all capitalist on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 11, 2008
Crochet A Circle. Crochet A Circle Now. YGG OG Amigurumi
Wow. I wanna go to the crocheting party in etsy seller Crafty Is Cool's tummy, too. Sure, she's created plans and kits for making your own amigurumi versions of Yo Gabba Gabba! characters. Which is great. But if you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 10, 2008
A Quick Study Of Albanian Lego Sub-Machine Guns
We're not hippie freaks about it, but we don't let the kid have toy guns, play with toy guns, or pretend that she's playing with a gun. When she started pointing sticks and Lego structures at us and looking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 8, 2008
In Soviet Union, The Catalog Orders You
Back up a minute, comrade. Can somebody explain how it is that we--the Americans--supposedly won the Cold War, and yet I'm the one who has to wrestl with a pile of catalogs as big as a bear cub and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 7, 2008
Washington Post Pre-Eulogizes Club Libby Lu
The Washington Post has taken a moment at its parenting blog On Parenting to note the impending demise of skanky mall makeover chain Club Libby Lu. The editors mourn the loss with deep sadness, and the comments are filling up...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 5, 2008
Modernist Doll Housing Market Bubble Update: Villa Sibi, $10 On eBay
I'm going to operate on the assumption that some people, somewhere have actually been buying Sirch's Villa Sibi. One possible explanation for the the nearly 50% price increase for new Villa Sibis [from $600 in 2004 to $855 today]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 4, 2008
It's Hard Out There For A Bratz
You know, people bitch and moan about the out-of-control litigiousness of the American corporate landscape, and particularly intellectual property laws and the stranglehold rabid trial lawyers pursuing frivolous copyright infringement cases have on good old-fashioned creativity. But then you read...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
My First Murakami Chibi Kinoko
Chibi Kinoko, aka Little Mushroom, is an adorable little character Takashi Murakami introduced on his line of exclusive Louis Vuitton bags and accessories. And there's a 9-inch plush version available, too, because as anyone who loaded up at Murakami's in-museum...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 3, 2008
FOUND: Large, Slightly Mangy Toy Dog, Answers To The Name Of Bojesen
Are you on a sacred quest to find a Kay Bojesen pull toy dog woodworking project that's larger than a tuna can? Because it appears that an outfit called Find The Grail Auctions has posted one on eBay. But...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 2, 2008
Blame Candy Land
Because the board games teach kids what their parents don't have time to say, Greg Costikyan has an in-depth analysis of Candy Land, the board game created by Eleanor Abbot and first published by Hasbro in 1949. Costikyan lifts the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 28, 2008
To Shop: Reference Library @ Kiosk, Nov. 28 - Dec. 7
If you shop at only one blogger-curated pop-up store this holiday season, make it Andy Beach's Reference Library Mini-Exhibition at Kiosk in SoHo. Despite his fame as a retail artist/design guru/dad/ex-DT guest blogger is probably best known for his...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Thanks To Jamie Hayon, The Chicken Shape Is No Longer Unexplored
From Lladro hacker Jamie Hayon's website: The chicken, a rather unexplored shape, found its place amongst my green dreams. I wanted to portray this common bird as a sensational object by amplifying its characteristics and dimensions, turning it into...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 25, 2008
Ikea Store Ikeahack? Play Kitchen Made From Something Else
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Ikea play kitchen in the Elizabeth City, NJ store, originally uploaded by daddytypes. When I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 24, 2008
The Mystery Of Life: Who Designed This "Modern Playground Equipment"?
The search results for "playground" at Life magazine's photo archive are dominated by one series of images: nearly 200 photos of surrealist bent steel playground equipment from 1951-2 created by an unidentified female sculptor. The stuff is awesome: creatures...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 22, 2008
Quirky Canada Has Own Laws, Crazy, Calder-Inspired Sideways Circus
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } circus, originally uploaded by Rob Cruickshank. If it weren't in Canada, and thus even colder...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 19, 2008
Ko Verzuu? Don't Mind If I Do
FWIW, I toggle back and forth between the just-the-facts headlines and the annoying, jokey ones. Guess which one this is? A couple of very interesting looking ADO toys designed by Ko Verzuu just popped up on eBay Austria: a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 18, 2008
I Wanna The Whole World In A Bag, Muji, 'N Ever'thinissinit
For the fourth Christmas in a row, Muji has expanded its "In A Bag" series, a megalomaniacal mission to distill entire swaths of the known universe into tiny, little wooden toys, and then trap and sell it in little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Muji ABC & Kanji Stamp Sets
You know the old saying: there are no atheists in Muji Xmas Gift Departments. Once again, the minimalist, eco-friendly, no-frills retailer has come up with a giant mountain of stuff I want to buy. First up in the Mujimix: great...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 15, 2008
Pups.It Italian Indie Plush Is Freakin' Awes... Sigh
Crazy creatures, quirky personalities and backstory, imaginary cartoon world, lumpy plush toys, tight jeans--holy smokes, they actually call themselves "The Kidult Lab." But here's the catch: It's Italian! Wake me up when someone pulls one of those Marvel vs....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 13, 2008
I'd Like To Be Told. When It's Going To Suck: Busted Mister Rogers Talking Key Chain
A few months back, I felt like a heretic even asking the question, whether some slightly expanded, thoughtful licensed merchandise from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood might not be a nice alternative to parents facing down the Sesame Street juggernaut. Now...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 7, 2008
PLAY Mobile! Sweet Rocking Cycle At Designblok 2008
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } PLAY!, originally uploaded by pavelm. Will the owner of the velo-tastic tubular rocking horse parked...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 6, 2008
Fresh From Prague: Baby Tron Chopper By Pesr Polak
Designboom reported from Designblok08 in Prague, where students in an industrial design class at the AAAD exhibited their class project: a series of ride-on toys for kids ages 1-4. I can't quite make out how Pesr Polak's super-slick actually...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
For Sale: Creative Playthings Carriage, One Owner
Jenn from Minor Details spotted this sweet 1960's Creative Playthings plywood wagon/carriage on Craigslist. It's being sold out of Huntington, Long Island by the original owner, who is a big girl now, and can do things like research the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 3, 2008
Mumbleboy Papier Mache Awesomeness
The artist Kinya Hanada, who works as Mumbleboy, was into trippy indie plush before trippy indie plush was cool. Which may or may not mean that papier mache is the next plush; for all its clean, simple, aesthetic pleasure,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 30, 2008
Not Luigi Colani?? Another Non-German Engineering Scandal
Where's Brooke Shields when German engineering and design need her? First, we were forced to contemplate the reality that the "German engineered" VW Routan minivan is, in fact, a reskinned Chrysler Town & Country. And now, it turns out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Eine Kleine Matchbox Zoo
This awesome vintage toy zoo from Germany fits into eight beautifully designed matchboxes. The pieces are so small, you have to wonder if they might actually not even be a choke hazard; just wash'em down with an extra bottle....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 29, 2008
Merry F-in' Christmas, Pauly! Cervini's Custom Lil C500
Hell yeah, you're a guido, and f-in' proud of it, bitch. An' your kid's gonna grow up just like his old man, summers on the Shore and what not, you gotta problem withat, go back to the f-in' city....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 28, 2008
Sublime Muppet X Station Wagon Mashup In Germany
In order to issue someone a speed camera ticket in Germany, it's necessary to have an identifiable photo of the driver, not just the car's license plate. Which, because of the sensitive camera calibrations, means all you need to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I'll Take Ridiculous Radio Flyer Concept Studies For $1,000, Alek
This over-contoured rethinking of the traditional red wagon was created by a design intern over the summer when the economy seemed slightly healthy, and it features a luxe interior with basically no alternative play patterns beyond getting pulled through the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 27, 2008
Lynskey Performance Titanium Tricycles Now Available In Cycling Paradise
The stock market's a mess. The banking system's in disarray. The real estate market is a disaster. And now even Daddy Types' comments system has tanked. Fortunately, the production of customized titanium performance tricycles continues unperturbed. And not just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Partisan Hack, Or Thou Shalt Not Commit Kidultery
You know, when I started this post last week, it was going to be a self-righteous sermon against the evils of kidultery and how, when nominal adults get all fixated on designing toys for their own amusement and not...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 26, 2008
Mini Mies: Dad Builds A Farnsworth Dollhouse
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } exterior 1, originally uploaded by j&mgorman. Josh's' son Camden is almost two and getting into...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 25, 2008
Whatcha Got There, Kind+Jugend Dude? Is That The Hoppop Motta Walkbike?
Why, yes, yes it is. Hoppop is a Belgian outfit founded by baby footprint art mogul Christophe Verlinden, which came to the Kind+Jugend expo last year with the Hoppop Original, a hardcase diaper bag that converts into a booster...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 24, 2008
Once Thought Extinct, Stokke Hippo Spotted In The Wild
Well, the wilds of Sweden, anyway. I've seen exactly one of these awesome Stokke Hippo rocking toys before, in a baby store in Reykjavik, Iceland. I'm sure that one's since been chopped up for firewood, but artist/blogger Elisabeth came...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 23, 2008
Carbon Dating On A Pig: Bronze Age Toy Found Near Stonehenge
Archaeologists announced the discovery in an infant's grave near Stonehenge of a carved stone pig. They belief that the 2.5-inch figurine, which dates back more than 2,000 years, is either a toy or a memorial/funerary object for the baby's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rad Mad Scientist Blocks, Lasercut For You By Xylocopa
Awesome. Just. Awesome. These incredible maple blocks, laser-engraved with line drawings from the hilarious world of mad scientists, showed up at Make Magazine's latest Maker Faire in Austin. They're by the laser-cutting artists at Xylocopa, a husband & wife...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 20, 2008
Anchor Stone Blocks Exist, Are Made Of Stone
I've got to clear these damn browser tabs. Anchor Stone Blocks were created in Germany in the late 19th century. They're red, yellow, and blue cast stone, designed to mimic the brick, limestone, and slate, respectively, of traditional European...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Family Scandal! Rocking Beauty Had Sister Named Rocking Ugly
As everyone hopefully knows now, the iconic Creative Playthings design, the red ball-equipped Hobby Horse, was not designed by Philip Johnson, and the Philip Johnson who didn't design it was the creative director of Creative Playthings, not the feisty,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Kaleidoscope-ic, Man: Phillips dePury Tries To Bogart My Toyage
Ceci n'est pas un toy. Ceci n'est pas un dollhouse. Ceci n'est pas a house at all. Because if it were any of that, would it be being auctioned off at Phillips dePury this Saturday? Bien sur que non....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 18, 2008
Mesdames Et Messieurs, Je Vous Presente Calder's Circus At The Whitney
For years, Alexander Calder's awesome theatre/performance art/toy/sculpture Circus has been in the lobby of the Whitney Museum, entertaining its way into the psyches of generations of city-dwelling kids. It's made of dozens of little articulated toy figures, which the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 15, 2008
Group Hug! Nice Customer Service Stories From Wooden Toy Companies
There's a story on Consumerist about how awesome Melissa & Doug's response was when a mom called about a broken propeller on her daughter's new wooden plane. Though she only called about replacing the plane--and warning the company about the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 13, 2008
Wow, Did The Kid Love Digging Up This Fake Dinosaur Skeleton
Somewhere in the past few years, a farmer in the city my in-laws retired to, St. George, Utah, found a motherlode of super-detailed dinosaur tracks and fossils, and they built an entire museum around them. Just like that. So...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 9, 2008
Wal-Mart: Don't Compete With Someone Who Buys Toys By The Shitload
The Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart has scattered a bunch of $10 toys in the aisles of its stores this Christmas season--which is apparently in full swing. Some other retail giants are doing the same thing. Wal-Mart doesn't say...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 4, 2008
I, For One, Welcome Our Spandex Lucha Robot Overlords
I mean, I know the robots are plotting to enslave the world by positioning themselves in close proximity to our human offspring. Where they wait, in silence, until the Robot Emperor gives the signal...then KABLOW! But when they have...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 1, 2008
Wood By Ten: Cute, Cheap And Into Production
OK, new theory: maybe no one in London remembers the Childsply and Childsform group design challenges and exhibitions because the entire London design world consists of an endless stream, year in and year out, of group design challenges?? ["Hello...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 30, 2008
Eighty Bucks For The Ur-Big Wheel?
The company that made the original Big Wheel, Louis Marx, sold out to his competitor in the early 1970's. That company, Empire Plastics, went bankrupt in 2001. Some other company reconstituted Empire and now makes the Original Big Wheel...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 29, 2008
Eames Elephants So Nice They Editioned Them Twice
Ahh, 2007. The good old days, when we thought that a thousand euros was a bit steep for a limited edition Eames molded plywood elephant, but hey, we'll manage. After all, we've been waiting since 1945 for the thing...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Cubi-Q: German Play Furniture Is Awesome, Cubic
Looking at the traditional-to-slightly-boring children's furniture designs on the German wood furniture firm Zwergraum, I would never have imagined they'd come up with something as awesome as the Cubi-Q. With four boxes, two table-like pieces, cutouts, and optional wheels,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Tessell: I, For One, Welcome Our Korean Tessellation Play Mat Overlords
OK, so in the US, we're making foam playmats with alphabets on them. And in Denmark, they're making Bobles, ride-on, climb-on animals made from computer-cut foam. All well and good. Until you find out that in Korea, they're making foam...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 28, 2008
Took The Kid To Crafty Bastards, Er, "The Craft Fair"
So the kid and I went to Crafty Bastards after church today. We were overdressed and underinked. Still, we got to meet Spooky Daddy in person, which was awesome. He was working the puppetmaster thing pretty spectacularly, and it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 26, 2008
Where All The Wooden Pacifiers At?
K2 is having a great time sucking on the wooden doorknobs on the kids' Via Toy Box doors. [Remember to glue, not just screw, those bad boys on, btw.] And one of the puzzles she loves [un]doing has these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 23, 2008
DT Plush Toy Nerddown: Sluggy Freelance Bun-Bun Vs. Higgs Boson Particle?
Alright, Maybe I should be scouring flickr for photos of dads taking their infant children to the Yankees-Orioles game. And maybe I will. But for now, I'm too confounded by the nerdiness of these plush toys to do anything else....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Il Ritorno!! Corraini Reissues Enzo Mari's Play Wall
In 1967 Danese debuted Enzo Mari's Il Posto dei Giochi, The Place of Games, otherwise known as "Wall." Kids could use the ten-panel corrugated cardboard play structure printed and perforated with Mari's designs to create various kid-sized spaces. The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Animal Families By Abbatt Toys
Abbatt Toys were sort of the Creative Playthings of England. Paul & Marjorie Abbatt founded their toy company in the 1930's with a focus on education and design. Their friend, the British modernist architect Erno Goldfinger, designed their innovative...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 22, 2008
Kid O Toys Arrive, Are Awesome
You know, I was just wondering to myself the last few weeks, "Where are those Kid O toys I was promised would be hitting the market soon?" And here they are. Wow. Educational clarity and simplicity of design that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DTQ: Anyone Know This Wooden Dollhouse?
Maya from Covetable doesn't covet this wooden dollhouse, at least not anymore. She just got it from another parent who can't remember where it originally came from. Does anyone recognize it? There's apparently a partially worn off logo "with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 19, 2008
Just Shoot Me Now: A Dad Walks Into A Target...
I needed a gallon of mixed paint, and we were running low on diapers, so after I dropped the kid off at pre-school, K2 and I did a combined Home Depot/Target run to the Virginia suburbs. Holy smokes, nothing knocks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 18, 2008
Needs More Blobwall: Greg Lynn's Recycled Toy Furniture Somehow Wins Venice Biennale
Huh? CAD monkey/architect Greg Lynn's Recycled Toy Furniture won an award at the Venice Biennale [not the real Biennale, the architecture one, but still], despite the fact that the only "furniture" aspect is the tacked on tabletops; giant plastic...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 17, 2008
Say Hello To The Schaukelwagen's Little Friend
Kinderstoele this, Kinderspiele that. A few days of poking around the kinderweb has turned more stuff I thought I would've known by now, but there you go. For example, I totally missed "Zappel, Philipp! - Die Welt der Kindermöbel," an...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 16, 2008
You Say Football Net, I Say Soccer Net, CPSC Finally Says It's A Freakin' Deathtrap, Get Rid Of It
Almost 200,000 MacGregor and Mitre toy soccer goals of death have been sold in the US since 2002. But now the CPSC has issued a recall, following news that a 21-month-old boy died while trying to climb one. I should...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 6, 2008
This Is Neil Fraser's Brain On Blocks. Any Questions?
Neil Fraser had an MRI, then he laminated his various cross-sectional scans onto a stack of 1" wooden blocks. Now he can do nifty tricks like cut away 3D models of the inside of his head. Wooden Brain [neil.fraser.name...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 4, 2008
Little Riggin': UK Dad Makes A Mini Foden Just Like His
After 150 years of British lorrymaking, Foden ceased production in 2006. Which, coincidentally? is when a truck driving dad in Herefordshire named Paul started making a kid-sized replica of his own Foden rig. Now it's done, and it looks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 2, 2008
But Of Course. Kozmo The Arizona Anti-Smoking Alien Doll
In 1994, Arizona voters approved Prop. 200, a cigarette tax which would fund anti-tobacco use educational programs. After a couple of years of ramp-up AzTEPP, the Arizona Tobacco Education and Prevention Program hit its fully funded stride in 1998....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 31, 2008
Buy It For The Name, Keep It For The Cute: Skummis Plush Creature
I don't know what a filur is in Swedish besides a house music band and a military drone plane designed by Saab. But I do know what Skummis are: justsocuteiwannaeatthemup! Whether it's a blobby plush creature or a set...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 28, 2008
Why Is The Ferrari Tipo 500 The Rolls Royce Of Pedal Cars?
OK, so there's De Parma, a slightly cheeky antiques dealer in London, who's selling this vintage Ferrari Tipo 500 F2 racer pedal car--dated to the 50's and sourced to Italy, but otherwise no manufacturer is mentioned--in very nice original-looking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 27, 2008
Vintage DIY Scooter: They Don't Make Them Like They Used To
Instructions: Take one set of roller skate wheels, an old handlebar, a 2x4, some boards. Add a bent sheet of tin to give it that proper Ralph Kramden Drives This Bus snout, then paint it with whatever's left over...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 24, 2008
Got Too Many Euros? Kidstuff Roundup From German eBay Auction
You know how The Economist publishes the Big Mac Index, to show how over- or underpriced certain currencies are for the exact same thing? Well, the price estimates the Munich-based auction house Quittenbaum has placed on US vintage auction staples...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 23, 2008
Y, It's Bamboo! Bam Bam Baby Tricycle
Not only did Andrew Grigor's Bam Bam Baby Tricycle win the 2008 Launch Pad Source One packer's prize for emerging Australian designers a few weeks ago, the prototype's flatpack, anti-plastic, sustainably harvested bamboo ply, recycled aluminum, and off-the-shelf O-ring...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Karl Lagerfeld x Steiff Bear Mashup Scarier'n A Roomful Of Dolls
I don't care how many Diet Coke butlers you send my way. Come September, don't let me find out you got one of the 2,500 ridiculous Karl Lagerfeld bears Steiff is selling at places like Colette and Neiman Marcus....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 21, 2008
Wait, What? Evel Knievel Was A Skanky Tool
Dammit, I wish I would've found this before I got caught up in my Evel Knievel nostalgic posting spree. Because really, nothing takes the gleam off a childhood hero like hearing him make casual homophobic rape jokes about his own...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Evel Knievel Electric Toothbrush
Holy smokes, I just checked, and the kid has eight toothbrushes, nine if you count the ToothTunes Junior musical toothbrush a publicist recently sent. [1] It turns the kid's skull into a soundbox; she hears "Hakuna Matata" inside her head...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
How Many Evel Knievel Tricycles Do You Think Are Still Out There?
I'll take a flying leap--hehe, yes, pun totally intended--and say, uh, not that many. Maybe a hundred? A dozen? Only two mentions of a 1975 AMF Evel Knievel tricycle seem to have gotten themselves embedded in the auto-compiled text...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 20, 2008
Webkinz, I Need To See You In My Office.
Because it's getting out of control. I understand that the social networking and community aspects of virtual worlds based on real world plush toys are quite powerful draws, especially for the youngest, least marketing savvy consumers who are your targets....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 19, 2008
Uh-Oh, Rachel Whiteread Got All The Doll House Furniture, Too
Seems that at least a few of the hundreds of vintage dollhouses sculptor Rachel Whiteread has been hoarding over the last couple of decades had some furniture in them. And when she could no longer resist its miniature charms,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Kippenberger Greifbar: Martin Kippenberger's Dollhouse
I can't find any references to it online beyond the auction sites, but this 1990 sculpture by Martin Kippenberger, titled Kippenberger Greifbar, will be sold at Sotheby's in New York in a few weeks. It's from an edition of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 16, 2008
Visionary Obama, Protector Of American Children, Threatens To Ban All Chinese-Made Toys
Finally, a leader who refuses to pander to the giant corporations and foreign demons who threaten the greatness of this Nation! On December 19th, at a campaign appearance in Concord, NH, Senator Barack Obama boldly answered a citizen's question--a question...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 14, 2008
Diaper Bag Full Yet? Skip*Hop Is Gettin' Into The Toy Business
Having successfully branched out beyond diaper bags into the baby-related countertop accessory and playroom floormat markets, Skip*Hop has launched a soft, fuzzy toy collection. There are 14 pieces, optimally sized for the floor, the babyhand, and the stroller bracket....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 13, 2008
Karmazing! Little India Kali Plush Doll By Leeanna Butcher
See? Not everyone riffing on Sanjay Patel's awesome little Little India Hindu deities is knocking them off. Plush artist Leeanna Butcher went to art school with Patel, and he recently asked her to create this plush incarnation of Kali,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 12, 2008
OG 1964 Ford Galaxie Fire Chief Wagon On eBay
Besides the remarkable, unrestored condition and the sheer awesomeness of growing up with sirens and flashing lights on top of your family ride--you'd be the star of every school dropoff line and carpool, and the kid'd totally be a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
My Little Pony Of The Apocalypse
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } My Little Zombie Pony, originally uploaded by dbx1. This is only the second artist-modded My...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 8, 2008
Win A Yo Gabba Gabba! Keycap In The DT WTF? Licensed Product Contest!
The Mall: The kids and I went to Hot Topic yesterday at the mall. [Actually, at the second mall; the first mall we went to on Wednesday didn't even have a Hot Topic. What the point of our country's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 7, 2008
Some Assembly Required: The Porcupine Playdome
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Waiting for The Last Hex, originally uploaded by daddytypes. Alright, I've finally got my photos...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 6, 2008
Fisher Price: Help Me, Jazz Hands Elmo, You're My Only Hope
If John McCain really wants to protect America's Children, he doesn't need to ban all toys from China, just half of them: the $11 bn/year Yet Another Sorry Robotic Elmo market. I can't tell--and I don't want to know--whether...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 5, 2008
Kung Fu Pander: McCain Threatens To Ban All Chinese-Made Toys
Don't know how I missed this, from an April 2008 Bloomberg report of a John McCain townhall meeting in Youngstown, Ohio:"I have to tell you, if I were president of the United States, the next toy that came into this...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Pick It Up Pick It Up Pick It Up Pick It Up Pick It Up Pick It Up
And so it starts. Yo Gabba Gabba! toys have been spotted at Target. Noisy ones, too. Also: Borat-style swimsuits for boys. Or so it would appear. Yo Gabba Gabba Toys at Target [nontoxicreviews]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 1, 2008
Gangsta Babies Keeping It Very Real, Unfortunately
Mezco Toyz introduced Gangsta Babies, a set of four 10-inch vinyl baby dolls decked out like refugees from a 2004 ad agency trend board. They illustrate perfectly the risks of designing a product that parrots fleeting trends instead of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 27, 2008
Whoops, Missed That Herman Miller Kite
Just checking in on the vintage goods at the awesome Landscape Products in Tokyo, and what do I find? A little kit for a Herman Miller kite. It seems to date from around 1980. The triangular pieces covered with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 25, 2008
Mamma Mia, El Gatto Meo di Bruno Munari, Senza Volto!
Turns out vulcanized rubber cats have less than nine lives. In 1949 Bruno Munari made some special promotional black cats called Gatto Meo for Pirelli using the company's flagship product. It's not known how many survive [the image below...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 24, 2008
Thank You, Target, May I Have Another? Elmo LikeABike Knockoff
So maybe Target was just testing the waters when they steamrolled Like-A-Bike last year with their own $50 made-in-China knockoff. Because not only are they back, they're expecting you to pay ten bucks more for the Elmo version and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 22, 2008
Voluskrin: OG Icelandic Toys
No sheep--or polar bears--were harmed in the making of this fascinating, old school Icelandic toybox and toy set. The little bone fragments and such are made of plastic:In Icelandic farmhouses of yesteryear, children had a special hiding place for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 20, 2008
Wow, Wow What Have We Here? Plush Noggin 'Clones'
When you've been sewing for 50 years like Gramma Ruth, you don't "knock off" anything, least of all the so-far unlicensed, unmonetized characters of some media conglomerate-come-lately like Nickelodeon. No, when you make your own homebrew plush versions of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 18, 2008
Bag-o-Bones: PBK-Meets-CSI
Nothing adds edgy ambiance to your pleasantly whitebread merchandise mix quite like a child-size skeleton. On the one hand, paper pulp doesn't have the long-term playability of wood, or even plastic. On the other hand, IT'S 30% OFF! monogramming...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Nobi-Nobi Disney Ball Tower Of The Apocalypse
Holy crap, Takara Tomy! Flashing lights, multiple melody buttons, melody balls, sounds, raising towers, spiraling ball tracks--inside and out--ball hiders, ball holders, ball chutes, clocks, butterflies, Mickey, Minnie, Donald...The insane Nobi-Nobi Ball Tower has 16 [!] separate features for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 14, 2008
Awesome Baby-Sized Ply Play Kitchen By Shiroma Somebody
When I first saw this plywood play kitchen at Mary-Branche, a Japanese online kids&moms boutique, I thought it was nice and simple. If a little chunky, what'd they do, double up the plywood? Wow, check out the smooth finish,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 3, 2008
Can We Enamel It? YES WE CAN! Hello Kitty Tonka Truck
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } GVWR Payload Testing, originally uploaded by Telstar Logistics. Uh-uh. I guess when your dad's the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 27, 2008
Antiques Backroadshow: Vintage Vinyl In Goldsboro
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Olde Country Store, Goldsboro, NC, originally uploaded by daddytypes. Full of Wilber's barbecue and looking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 26, 2008
Garden Gnomes Not Included: Sweet Community Playthings Tractor On eBay
Dayton, Ohio bidders will have the advantage on this awesome, old Community Playthings ride-on tractor. Though it's just under 11 inches high, all that maple lumber and those chunky Firestone tires will cost a bundle to ship. Maybe when...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 23, 2008
Tryon Toy Makers: For Kids By Kids
Didn't see that one coming. While getting in touch with my North Carolina roots by poking around the special collections at UNC-Asheville, I stumbled across the archives of the Tryon Toy Makers, a company founded in Tryon, NC during...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Giant Foam KidsCars Not Available In Green
I gottalotta nerve complaining about the Internet's short-term memory when I can't remember if I've written about these giant upholstered, padded foam KidsCars before. It seems like I have, if only because polyurethane is an odd material for a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 21, 2008
Florent, We'll Miss You! But Check Out These Awesome Maps--And Morellet Guerineau??
Last weekend we took K2 for her first visit to Florent. Also her last, because Florent's closing in less than two weeks. I'd planned on many years of boring brunches where I'd explain to the kids how daddy and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 20, 2008
Will These Lifelike [sic] Wall-E and Eve Robots Come To The US?
Whoa, these laptop-size Wall-E and Eve robots were at the Tokyo Toy Fair. Do you think Takara Tomy will bring them to the US? Next week? Tokyo Toy Show 2008, or check out the video directly on YouTube [kilian-nakamura...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 17, 2008
Sweet, Church-Tested Folding Climber From Community Playthings
Demand for this awesome, folding Community Playthings climbing gym must have dropped off some time after the Planet of the Apes trend faded away, because it's no longer in production. Fortunately, this one is available for pickup in Rochester,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 16, 2008
DT Renegade Craft Fair Round-up
Staging the Renegade Craft Fair in the Pool at McCarren Park Pool is a great way to crystallize the cultural divide that is Williamsburg: you walk through thousands of Hispanic families camped out under every tree in the park,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 15, 2008
Have You Seen Me? Or Maybe Several Of Me?
Just as we planned, the kid adopted one of my mother's flannel blankets with a hand-crocheted edge for her snuggly comforting thing. I say planned, because we kind of pushed it, because they were always right at hand, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 13, 2008
RIP, Thomas Creat-- Wait, David Mitton Animated The Thunderbirds!
David Mitton, the children's TV producer who brought The Rev. Wilbert Vere Awdry's bedtime stories of Thomas the Tank Engine to lucrative, oddly animated life, has died. But Thomas Schmomas, the guy also did The Thunderbirds! That means Thomas...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 12, 2008
We'll Wrap Up Our Own Nostalgia, Thanks, Strawberry Shortcake
So there was a big licensing expo in New York this week, which apparently resulted in a phony trend story in the NY Times about companies redesigning their old licensed character properties to milk a new generation of nostalgic parents:...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 11, 2008
Prouve/Corbu/Perriand Kid's Room? But Where'd That Dog Come From?
Though the picture's from Elle Decor, not Interior Design, I think this is Florence Lopez's son's "lacquered Jean Prouvé bed" with "a cork bulletin board that Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand designed for two French universities" over it. I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Wigs And Cigs And Writing Gigs
If the Theresa in this photo is the Theresa I think it is, let the record show she did not, in fact, grow up to be a lounge singer like her parents wished; she's a writer who works for a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Vintage Barbapapa Doll: How You Say, "Mangy"?
Sometimes vintage is truly the best: like with furniture. And sometimes, it ain't: like, uh, with gnarly, black-furred, stuffed dolls from popular 1970's French children's book series. Better to buy your Barbapapa plush dolls and fondue pots new, like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
For Those About To Rock: Plush Guitars & Band Members By The Grateful Thread
Awesome. Nicolas Worth and Jami Gigot are designers in London who have just launched The Grateful Thread, a little collection of crafty rock&roll-themed products, which includes some plush/stuffed creations. Chief among the offerings are the stuffed guitars they're life-size...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 10, 2008
Freakin. Awesome. Banaue Filipino Like-A-Biker Gang
So you want to talk about wooden walking bikes? Kevin Kelly's got a small but amazing collection of photos of Like-A-Bike-like wooden bikes from all over the world. [If you're a bike entrepreneur looking for a way to out-maneuver...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 9, 2008
Chris Burden's Massive Erector
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Rockefeller Center, originally uploaded by peterjr1961. What My Dad Gave Me by Chris Burden is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 7, 2008
Found: That Jean Prouvé Swing Set
I didn't think much of it at the time, but once the kid came along, I always wondered where that 1960's Jean Prouvé swing set Patrick Seguin showed at Sonnabend in 2003 ended up. The answer is on art...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 5, 2008
99 Laufmaschines, Or Seriously, Stop Inventing The Like-A-Bike!
Do we need to lay it out on a timeline for you? Because I haven't seen so many people inventing the exact same unique toy since, since--well, I guess those plush people do it all the time. BUT STILL!...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
This Week In Like-A-Like-A-Bike News
The Like-a-Bike knockoff scene is suddenly hopping for some reason. To wit: A retailer recently commented on the original DT post about the Skuut--the one that busted them for knocking off the Like-A-Bike in China, and the one which called...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Uhh, Plush Naked Hitler Doll
Yeah, for about half a second, I thought it was because the artist and the gallery were German. But then I figured that plush naked Hitlers and cuddly [kuddly?] KKK dolls would be seriously disturbed anywhere. Bimbo dolls by...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Knit Snakes. Why'd It Have To Be Knit Snakes?
From the introduction to Nina Braun's exhibition at Helium Cowboy Gallery in Hamburg:Nina Braun has always cut her own path, irrespective of social guidelines or standards. Through self-teaching, experiences and experiments, she has built the fundament she needs to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 3, 2008
Holgate Soda Set One Bottletop Shy Of A Six-Pack
I like this cool set of wooden bottles, tinted in the colors of six common wine cooler flavors. They're made by Holgate, one of the earliest US companies to develop educational toys. Unfortunately, one of the bottle stoppers is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 2, 2008
Montgomery Schoolhouse Rocks
Montgomery Whohouse? I've been following the items eBay seller Creative Magpie has been putting up for sale from the inventory of her mother's 1970's toy store. In the last couple of days, several very fine-looking wooden toys have turned...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 30, 2008
Hmmm: Herman Miller Stuffed Centaur Looks Like Marilyn Neuhart Stuffed Centaur
Wright20 dates this shaggy centaur stuffed toy to 1961, but for some reason, they don't mention Marilyn Neuhart at all, just Herman Miller, thanks to a label on the back that reads, "Licenciatarios de Herman Miller Industria Argentina Coleccio'n...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 28, 2008
Old Toy Shopful Of Creative Playthings On eBay
There's been a whole slew of vintage Creative Playthings toys turning up on eBay the last few days, all in beautiful, unused, condition. For collectors or just folks who like their vintage wooden toys unbeat and unchewed-on, it's like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 25, 2008
Unhappy Meal
This photo at Consumerist of a funny sign at McDonald's reminded me of the kid's own discovery of the secret of Happy Meals. Personally, I was just going for the pies, but I couldn't very well just eat pies...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 20, 2008
I, For One, Welcome Our New Russian Oligarch Overlords--With These Blocks!
With all their petrorubles, the Russians are buying up the entire art world! Soon they'll be coming for Rockefeller Center. [Will they do any better than the Japanese did? Stay tuned!] I'm not saying you should fire your Mandarin-speaking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
CP^2: Old Minimalist Dollhouses On eBay
Not sure if this is a sign that the doll real estate market is softening, but two fully furnished classic modernist dollhouses just went up on eBay. The big Creative Playthings house above is like an analog version of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 19, 2008
'Quirky' Garmento Dad On Bowery Drives Orbit Stroller
Entertaining family stories and crazy New York real estate stories go hand in hand. Andrew Gluckman and his family live in a throwback Bowery St apartment: no lease on two crooked floors above a lighting store in a building...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 15, 2008
Hippie Or Hipster? Harmony Ball Company Chiming Spheres Rattles At Areaware
So I read on notcot that Areaware, the NYC design studio/distributor is planning to launch a kid's collection called Areaware Jr. [they already distribute Salvor Fauna's silkscreen t-shirts and Onesies, as well as a few toys]. Then I see...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 13, 2008
And If Medicaid Doesn't Pay For Your Kid's Ringbo Riding Robot Chair, We'll Reimburse You!
Honestly, forget teaching your kid Mandarin; Korea is where the future is at. The future of ride-on toys that look an awful lot like the cart grandma gets at the mall; the future of snappy brand coinage ["RINGBO will be...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 12, 2008
The Playhouse That Love Built In The Garage
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } playhouse - full view, originally uploaded by shanecyr. A trip to Lowe's and a weekend...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 9, 2008
Lotta Jansdotter's Stuffed Toys Are Eco-Friendly!
Sure, I thought they were small and cute and pleasantly crafty, and the colors called forth fond memories of the fridges of my childhood. But thanks to the seven [seriously, I counted] mentions of their sustainable eco-friendliness in a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 8, 2008
How! Sweet Creative Playthings Totem Pole [??] On eBay
Sure, there's a fine-looking Creative Playthings dollhouse on eBay at the moment, complete with a family of squatter dolls, who at least haven't tossed out the matchy [if not all matching] furniture. But who cares when there's a freakin'...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Little Red Stuga Keeps Making Toy Versions Of Landscape
If you were wondering what features of the Swedish landscape the design team at Little Red Stuga has been turning into kid-sized play furniture lately, now you know: a folding screen house with mirrors on one side; and a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 7, 2008
Now That's Vitalian! Sweet Nesting Dollhouse By Kaefer
Kaefer is German for "beetle," and this sleek, alderwood dollhouse by the toymaker Kaefer is German for, "You can't go wrong by taking a cue from Antonio Vitali." If only it was a little bigger than six inches--no, you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 2, 2008
Playgoda: Slot-Together Playground Nirvana
So this morning Andy forwards me a link to a very promising blog, Playscape, which will focus on the art and science of playground design. And one of the first posts is the Playgoda, an awesome, slot-together laminated plywood...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I.D. Q&A Re: Kid O Toys
I.D. Magazine just published a little Q&A with Kid O founder Lisa Mahar, who talks about the ideas, design, and production of the new Kid O Toys collection. Mahar sounds like they're doing things very right, and not just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 28, 2008
We've Come A Long Way, Childcraft?
Hi-larious. From the hippies to the CPSC to women's lib, the times in 1974, they were definitely a-changin'. Here are some items from the 1974-5 Childcraft catalog that I can't imagine seeing at a Toys R Us near you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 26, 2008
Bunker Hill Lacquered Steel Doll McMansion
Daniel Franzen's painted steel dollhouse has serious curb appeal. The shape is inspired by Swedish barns, and relates to a series of cabins Franzen's firm, Bunker Hill, is designing for the reclaimed wood specialty firm Arvesund. It comes with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 22, 2008
Play-Dodecahedron! The Popular Science Meditator By Ken Isaacs
"'Bye for now,' says the man of the house as he retreats into think tank. Though it dominates a room, it can be quickly disassembled. At [right] Isaacs contemplates interior collage." Ken Isaacs, is there anything modular and plywood...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 19, 2008
Sweet Sport France Jouet A Bascule
Just in case you didn't learn how to say "rocking horse" in French--because frankly, you were only learning French to pick up chicks, not shop for playground implements--now you know: un cheval à bascule. Thus, this jouet à bascule,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 18, 2008
Creative Playthings Houseboat, Minus The Wet T-shirted Playthings
The seller has titled this 1960's Creative Playthings boat Noah's Ark, even though there are no animals. Obviously, though, it's from the very rare Creative Playthings Lake Havasu Spring Break Playset. If only Antonio Vitali's hand-carved, bikini-wearing co-eds and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 13, 2008
Oshiri Kajiri Mushi Goods, Finally
I've grown a bit skeptical of the origins of most every sudden Japanese trend. With the Oshiri Kajiri Mushi, aka Bottom Biting Bug, cartoon that washed over Japan last summer, it wasn't until the late fall/Christmas season before Japan's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 9, 2008
"Blatantly Unfocused Play With Their Daddy"
I'm re-reading Calvin Trillin's 1998 book, Family Man, and it's rather more interesting now that I'm a dad. Jim's right, he's the godfather of all typing daddies, not just those who make a big deal about changing tables in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 8, 2008
Creative Playthings Tug Boat On The eBay
If there's wear on this vintage Finnish tug boat & barge set from Creative Playthings, I can't really see it in the photo. And before I start a bidding war at $22 shipped for a used wooden toy, I'd...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 5, 2008
Vamanos! NAFTAstic Dora Minivan Of Canada
Do not adjust your screen. You are not dreaming. NAFTA is real, and it is working hard for Canadian children every. single. minute. That IS a photo of an American minivan [the Chevrolet Uplander, made in Doraville, Georgia! Until...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 2, 2008
Vintage Kettler: Puts The Rad In Dreirad
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Chromjuwelen Kettler Dreirad, originally uploaded by chromjuwelen. With their Happy AIr, Happy Plus, Happy Plus...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 1, 2008
From Germany To Silverlake With Love: Flototto Kids Chair
So we went poking around Silverlake today, the girls and I. Yolk is nice. But hey-o, Monkeyhouse Toys?? Awesome. The hyper-indie toy store has more than a few kidult-oriented toys, but first and foremost, it's a toy store for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 31, 2008
Hmm, BabyGap Home Seems To Have A Daddy Gap
Well, that didn't take long. BabyGap Home went live on the gap.com site today, and first impressions: not bad, for a total chickfest. It's definitely a small, tightly edited collection of brands and stuff; the BabyGap flagship product seems...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 29, 2008
Old Toyseller Coughs Up Two Sweet Antonio Vitali Animals
Clear out a few more curio cabinetsful of these new-old-stock Antonio Vitali animals, and I think a certain retired, Connecticut toy store owner will be able to get that condo in Boca. Of course, with the way the Florida...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 27, 2008
Awesome: Lower Back Tattoos By Toys R Us
What's this? Tramp stamps for sale in the Stickers R Us machine at Toys R Us? I smell a comprehensive cross-platform blitzertunity! Apparently, so does Disney. That other options I can make out are Hannah Montana, Clubhouse Disney, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 26, 2008
Sweet Kidshouse From Studiomama
More sweet loft modules cribbed from magazines. I was really digging the Lego wall, so grabbed this shot of Nina Tolstrup's painted MDF kidshouse from her profile in the latest issue of Dwell. Only when I got home did...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 25, 2008
DT Link Roundup: PC, ABC, APC, RR, HR Edition
Some headlines and links from the DT browser tabs: One WSJ dad knows he's ruining his 5-yo son's future by not teaching him more about computers. but dammit, we didn't need Webkinz when we were that age; we blew our...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
West Coast Wagons Theoretically Not Just For Celebrity Gifting Anymore
At first I was too blown away by the website's name--My Wholesale Baby--to worry that the authentic ammunition boxes add 15 pounds to West Coast Wagons' custom camo rig. Then I was whipsawed by the sales pitch:From hand painted...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 22, 2008
Students Design HaPe Bamboo Toys During 3-Hour Tour, A 3-Hour Tour
Last year, the CEO of Swiss toy company HaPe invited a group of Israeli design students to participate in a Bamboo Design Workshop. For a couple of weeks, the students and their professors lived, ate, and slept [with] bamboo...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 19, 2008
House For Sale. Giant, Foam Blocks House For Sale
With a name like Studio Papas, I think I'd love whatever Koen Crommentuijn and Marjan Verboeket put out. The fact that it's House for Sale, or Speelhuis, a set of twelve, giant cold-foam blocks shaped like classic wooden blocks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 18, 2008
DT Link Roundup: Back In The Day Edition
Clearing the ol' browser tabs: The NY Times used a new Central Park playground as a slightly irrelevant hook for discussing a new book from Rutgers University Press, Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space, and the Material Culture of Children. Apparently,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sugoi: Japanese Folk Toy Design Database
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } halloweenesque octopus, originally uploaded by peacay. FYI, "sugoi" means "great!" and is used sort of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 17, 2008
Win One For The Little Zipper! Creative Playthings Mail Scooter On eBay
Haven't seen one of these turn up on eBay before. It's a Creative Playthings Mail Scooter called the Little Zipper, presumably a reference to the 5-digit Zip Code, which was being promoted for general use in the late 1960's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 11, 2008
Totally Tubular Rocking Horse On eBay
I would love nothing more than to get a gloating email from someone next week explaining what an incredible deal they got on this thing, and how could I not recognize this ultra-rare, tubular steel rocking horse that Giorgetto...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 10, 2008
Vintage Community Playthings Original Maple Airplane
Haven't had a lot of the random eBay finds on here lately, probably because I haven't had as much time for the random eBay surfing as I used to. But I always like to see these giant maple jets...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 8, 2008
The Custom Playmobil Kid Is Not My Son
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Mobison 3-1, originally uploaded by 091. Playmo91 is a mad Playmobil customizer in Taiwan who...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 6, 2008
Oh My Heck! Extreme Yo Gabba Gabba! Craftiness
If their rabidly crafty fans keep up this pace, Yo Gabba Gabba! may never need to bother putting out actual merchandise at all; instead they can be like PBS painting guru Bob Ross, making mad bank by selling raw materials--paints,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 5, 2008
They're There! Serena Kuhl's Poltergeist Stuffed Toys
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } poltergrab, originally uploaded by serenakuhl. Freaking Awesome. I KNEW I shouldn't have blown off last...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 4, 2008
USTA Tees Up Slam-dunk Plan To Teach Little Kids Tennis: Move The Goalposts
I'll lift the blogging blackout about the kid's preschool just enough to say that last weekend was the school's fundraising auction, and we bought her some tennis lessons. Then it dawned on me that a handful of tennis lessons with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 3, 2008
Wow. Sixteen Other Animals Puzzle NOT By Enzo Mari
vs. I have to agree with the design gurus at Tokyo's Graphio/Buro-stil on this one: sometimes a copy rises above the level of mere knockoff to attain a remarkable beauty of its own. Like a cover version or a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 26, 2008
Handknit Sackboy From LittleBigPlanet
To those PlayStation 3 people who have been waiting like a year for LittleBigPlanet to be released, you'll be relieved to know the delay is not due to a sudden breakout of knitting circles in the Media Molecule offices;...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 25, 2008
Which Enzo Mari 16 Animals Puzzle You Talking About?
I imagine collectors of Enzo Mari's rather awesome puzzle, "16 Animali," already know this, but it seems like the kind of reference data that's worth filing away. Now when you find an old 16 Animali in a thrift shop,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
What, Me Worry? Plastic Bozart Dollhouse Market Is Meltdown-Proof!
I don't care if they're New In Box. If you buy these two Bozart Kaleidoscope dollhouses for $3200 or more, we need to talk. Well, let me qualify that: we need to talk if you have some unique and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 22, 2008
Security Theater Of The Absurd: Scan-It Toy Security Checkpoint
I know it looks like just a cardboard box with a jacked up Homeland Security Threat Level sticker on the side, but the Operation Checkpoint Scan-It toy security X-ray machine is much more. It has some little beeping thing...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Fun, New SWINXS Encourages Fitness, Robotic Subservience
When I first saw SWINXS on Engadget the other day, I thought it was just another of those RFID-enabled, programmable gaming platforms that purports to encourage physically active play while secretly conditioning children to the idea of taking orders...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Toyetic?? If Yo Gabba Gabba! Is Star Wars, Then I'm Steven Spielberg
Gosh, how much I love Kidscreen, the trade magazine of the children's television industry [tagline: "About reaching children through entertainment"]? I'd love it even if my boys from Yo Gabba Gabba! weren't on the cover [:)] of the big, fat...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
FOUND! That Sweet Plexi Hospital Bassinet UNFORTUNATELY SMALL!
In his burgeoning collection of dad-and-newborn-related Playmobil pieces, Mr. Stinkhead features this tableau: a new dad videotaping a baby in one of those sweet, plexiglass and steel bassinets from the hospital. It's like Playmobil is jacked into my head,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 21, 2008
Kid O Products: Kid O Goes Public With Sweet-Looking Toy Line
Well, there's one thing I regret about not going to the Toy Fair: I missed the public debut of Kid O's new toy collection. Since first catching wind of it last summer, I've been stoked, waiting to see these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Offecct Playhouse: Toys For The Office
Kidsmodern has a report from the Stockholm Furniture Fair that's worth checking out. It includes some new pieces from the Danish folks at Collect Furniture, but the idea that caught my attention is the Playhouse set by Andres Breitholtz...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
What Does Daddy Do With All His Playmobil?
Finally, Mr. Stinkhead has figured out what to do with his massive Playmobil collection while his son is still in the Serious Choke Hazard Stage. he set up little dioramas, took some pictures, and made a little book called,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Signs Of The Merchalypse: Yo Gabba Gabba! At The NY Toy Fair
I didn't make the NY Toy Fair this year, and it's probably just as well; the sheer volume of plastic, beeping, exploitative crap would likely send me into a new baby funk, and then I'd only be posting angry takedowns...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 20, 2008
A Long Time Ago In A Star Wars Tie-In Pitch To Pepsi Far, Far Away
I think we can all agree that, in retrospect, a Jabba the Hutt beanbag chair would have sold far more Pepsi than a life-size mannequin of Jar Jar Binks, even though Jabba wasn't even in Episode One [d'oh, I've...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Indiana Jones And The Out-Of-Control Toy Licensee
It's Toy Fair Week, and there's a new movie coming out. So I have to assume these are real, and that Hasbro expects preschool-age children actually will play with a Nazi dressed up as a Jewish priest; and an...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 18, 2008
"Fabricators' Kids Have The NICEST Bikes."
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Vanilla Cycles 001, originally uploaded by brianwickman. The North American Handmade Bicycle Show was held...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 15, 2008
Wow, Toy Quinny Zapp, Complete With Mini-Cosi
DT reader Kim just linked to this in the Miniboo post below. It's an honest-to-goodness toy version of the Quinny Zapp. To make up for the fact that it doesn't have the same folding mechanism as the full-size Zapp,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 14, 2008
Ay Caramba! Behold, El Miniboo
Though I've blocked the pain from my mind, longtime readers of DT may be familiar with the trials of the original Mini-boo, the toy-sized Bugaboo I tried to make one Christmas from one of those Riesenthel picnic baskets at...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Victoria's Secrets To Successful Parenting
The NYT's critical shopper column this week takes on the giant Victoria's Secret across from Macy's, "a slick, two-story mega-sexopolis, catering mainly to the boudoir needs of angry tourists." It's pretty damn funny [though I'm crying for America on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 12, 2008
It's Fun To Crochet A Muno Amigurumi, And That's How You Do It
I'm no expert, but I think if you have the Brother NC-7340 printer/scanner/fax/crocheter set up on your network, you just load whatever color of yarn you need--in this case, red-- and cut & paste this crocheting code from Craftster,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 11, 2008
I Think I Know Where One Of Those Sumi Ink Club Mobiles Is
Warning: convoluted, punk hipster ramble, combined with 80's and 90's flashbacks, ending with very slightly relevant payoff but realistically, probably none at all ahead: So there was an outlaw outdoor concert on the banks of the LA River last November...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 6, 2008
High-End Auction Therapy, Maybe: Renate Mueller's Therapeutic Toys
Around 1969 and into the 70's Renate Mueller [that Müller, with an umlaut, btw] designed a collection of therapeutic toys with a former instructor, Helene Haeusler, for the venerable German teddy bear manufacturer, H. Josef Leven. Based in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 5, 2008
Please Tell Me This Lucha Catman Puzzle Will Go Into Production
I've been waiting for this Lucha Catman puzzle ever since I saw the chunky MDF prototype last spring at the Bubbly NY trade show. It's from the always-awesome Our Children's Gorilla [and yes, they were awesome even before they...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 31, 2008
Sometimes A Plush Ring Stacking Toy Is Just A Plush Ring Stacking Toy
This is not one of those times. Last fall in Miami, I bought the new kid a Muffin stacking plush toy by Friends With You [$22]. Now I love my Friends With You. I mean, the kid's Friends With You....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Haba Volume Box
What a weird toy. Kudos to Haba for not painting it in bright rainbow colors, like so many of their other things. Is the 10x10x10 grid inside geared to actual units, like centimeters? It doesn't seem like it. Haba...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Freaky Awesome Spooky Daddy
[via] Seriously, it's freaking me out right now how awesome Spooky Daddy's plush toys and creatures and whatevers are. Actually, thanks to his awesome Flickr photostream, it's been gnawing at me for months now, like a plush Prometheus getting...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 30, 2008
Crafty Rec Room Masterpiece: Atari Breakout Pillow
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Crafting 365 Day 010, originally uploaded by jackrabbit.etsy.com. Holy smokes, It's like I'm eight years...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 24, 2008
Like-A-Crawligator? Creative Playthings 'Comet' On eBay
The casters are a different color, there doesn't appear to be a box, and it's apparently called 'The Comet,' but otherwise, this 23" long biomorphic spaceship scooterboard looks an awful lot like Creative Playthings' Crawligator. Either it's the same...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 23, 2008
There Will Be Poo: Floating Booga Mobiles By Sumi Ink Club
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } floating booga, originally uploaded by lukey dargons. The LA artist collaborative known as Sumi Ink...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 22, 2008
The Least Favorite Floor Puzzle In Free & Independent Papua New Guinea
The kid's been something of a puzzle fanatic for a while now, which gives the grandparents just the in they need to shower her with unbidden gifts. Making the most of it, we've been explaining what states, countries, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Ty Wants To Fight. For His Right. To Keep Selling Lead Toys, Dammit!
As if sucking the brains out of mid-American grandmas with Beanie Baby Mania and spending their life savings buying up ultra-luxury real estate weren't scourge enough, now Ty, Inc. is defying the law, refusing to take its lead-tainted toys...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Bozart Kaleidoscope Doll Houses Will Certainly Be More Expensive Tomorrow
Real estate crisis? What real estate crisis? The market for seven-year-old plastic doll houses has NEVER BEEN HOTTER! If you don't buy today, prices will absolutely be higher tomorrow! And the next day! 100% financing available! Foreign investors are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2008
DT eBay Scoutabout: Fire Sale Edition
Watching the live auctions today has wrought havoc on the ol' browser. In the time since I started trying to post about it, this sweet, vintage Creative Playthings fire station jumped from 99 cents to $21.50, which is more...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 18, 2008
When Hulk Get Chewed, Hulk Get Choke Hazardy: Stan Lee Tribute Art Exhibition
Gallery1988 is hosting an exhibition of Stan Lee tribute art by some of their indie artist friends. There's lots of mopey goth riffs on Spidey and plenty of Scarlet Witch and Ororo Munroe pin-up fantasies. But there's some sweet,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Get It For You Wholesale? eBayer Selling Mod Kid Gear At Unusually Low Prices
Yeah, I could just email Hillsborough, CA eBay seller Noodledoodle.home to see how they're offering new, high-end toys and kids furniture on eBay for seemingly crazylow, non-MSRP prices. But with the new kid-related caps on my daily typing quota,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 16, 2008
Optimistic CPSC Chairwoman Pronounces Recall Glass "Not 95.5% Empty, 4.5% Full!"
Looks like we missed CPSC Chairwoman Nancy Nord's speech last week at the National Press Club, the one where she criticized the media for its "near-hysteria" and "hoopla" over the record-setting number of product recalls in 2007. In fact, Nord...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 15, 2008
2007 Safety Stories: I Have Some Good News & Some Bad News
First, the good news: Phthalates are still leaching from your kid's vinyl toys, and Bisphenol-A is still leaching from your polycarbonate bottles and the linings of your formula cans! At first, when it was named Worst Science Story of 2007...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 3, 2008
OG Hardwood Block Wagon By John Michael Linck
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Fine Hardwood Toys by John Michael Linck - 5, originally uploaded by johnthetoymaker. You gotta...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Una Bassinet Maravillosa, Uno Aluminum I-Beam Like-A-Bike From Barcelona
Traveling to Europe for the holidays sans car seat apparently frees up your hands to take sweet photos for random blogs. That's the lesson we learn from DT CARES testing correspondent Darren. Here's an awesome-looking wood-and-plexi box-on-sticks bassinet he...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 2, 2008
Japan Launches Toy Train To Nowhere
Alright, people, enough with the hyperventilating over Japan's "Omoden" Toy Train [Omoden is short for Omocha Densha, or Toy Train]. Saying there's a Toy Train in Japan is like saying there's a monorail in America, except that at least...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Poky The Adorable Linux Mobile Build Platform Mascot
The UK branding agency TAK! created this identity for Poky, a new Linux embedded build platform and environtment optimized for mobile cross-application development. Which is exactly why the client, OpenEmbedded OpenedHand, also wanted a mascot. Because even if Poky...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 26, 2007
Wait, What's Wrong With The CPSC Reauthorization Act??
Somehow I missed this in my pre-Christmas inbox: "Dec. 21, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JPMA SUPPORTS PASSAGE OF CPSC REAUTHORIZATION ACT" If the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association is trumpeting their support for a piece of safety regulation-related legislation, something must...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Little S0f1a Loves Her Not Neutral Alphabet Blocks!
The era of the art blocks may be upon us. Not Neutral has introduced their own graphically sweetened set of ABC blocks that include apple and tree patterns on three faces, and letters and numbers in a groovy Sister...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 25, 2007
Are The Stores In The Soft City Open Or Closed On Boxing Day?
The Soft City is a Toronto-based artists' collective who have charged themselves with creating and managing a cuddly plush city in miniature. Sort of a Sim City with sewing machines instead of computers:We recognize the mutually defining relationship between the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 21, 2007
DT Window Shopping Roundup: Wooden Bikes, Euro Magazines, Baby Daddy Edition
Some things spotted around the web: Even though they're tacky and kind of insipid--well, the World Wildlife Federation was, the one for bigger kids, from National Geographic, is not that bad--the kid absolutely loves getting her magazines. It's mail! For...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hail To Skelter! Sweet, Sweet Pedal Cars By Piet Hein Eek
Holy. Moley. Henk Vos asked fellow Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek to make some pedal cars for his grandkids to race. After a year, they came up with the Skelter: three speeds plus reverse, aluminum and leather and rubber...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 20, 2007
Great To Be Us: Sweet Handcarved Cars From Milano
To be Us cars and such are designed by Matteo Ragni and handcarved by Master Giovanni out of a single block of Lebanese cedar. Then they're outfitted with mahogany wheels. The windshield on Il Pick Up, which looks like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 19, 2007
In The Garden Of Playmobil, Baby, Don't You Know That I Lo-ove You?
Seriously, why did I ever doubt that, when it came to plastic play gardens, no one could beat Playmobil? The suggestions for different Playmobil garden options took over my inbox yesterday like kudzu engulfing a Georgia Tech co-ed's parked car...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Mo Gabba Gabba! Mo Gabba Gabba!
Mike Schneider, a self-proclaimed dadblogging media whore [he writes for Variety] and huge Yo Gabba Gabba! fan, reports that the show has been picked up for a second, full season. The 20 new episodes are already in pre-production.For season two,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 18, 2007
Huh? So The Kid Wants A Plastic Garden?
I haven't gotten all holiday this and gift list that this year; a lot of blogs are cranking out a lot of shopping lists, and I hope they make a lot of money doing it. The kid, though, is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 12, 2007
Wait, So Did He Build The Plexiglass Playhouse?
From a photo tour of a Massachusetts family's loft, which is in a converted elementary school, Apartment Therapy, March 2005:That huge cardboard tube is going to be an access route through which the kids will crawl to reach a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 9, 2007
Like A Like-A-Bike For Grownups, By Camper
Tina's mention of her wish for a grown-up sized Like-a-Bike reminded me of this photo I snapped a couple of weeks ago in SoHo. It's a regular bike, modded or skinned with plywood to look like a Like-A-Bike. Camper,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 7, 2007
Crazalert Dec. 10-12: Yoya To Fill Someone's Loft With Merch, Sell It For "Insane" Discounts
Yoya's having a sample/warehouse/clearance/blowout sale next week, and you and your cash are invited. Not sure what they have planned, whether it's just books, clothes and toys, or whether there are Netto and ducduc nursery setups for immediate delivery,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 5, 2007
Waldi The Munich 1972 Olympic Wunderhund
Apparently the pinnacle of mod Olympic graphic design was reached in 1972 for the Munich summer games. The logos, signs, marketing, and mascots--everything down to and including the souvenirs--represented a triumph of the will, so to speak, of Otl...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 4, 2007
The Boyms Put The Babel Blocks New Yorker Dolls On The MySpace, The YouTube
Babel Blocks are New Yorkers, each unique in his or her religious and cultural affiliations, but underneath, they're all the same: i.e., made from wooden blocks. Get it? Just like we're all the-- Also, they all have a MySpace,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Swanky Ikea See-Saw Breaks Kid's, My Heart
Martin Rosquist's Vippig see-saw, made of molded and shaped birch ply for Ikea is absolutely beautiful to look at. Unless your kid is trying to ride it all by herself, and there are no other kids around the store,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
TchotchkeWatch: Alessi Modern Nativity Set
One of my earliest memories of visiting my grandparents' house was the veritable army of porcelain figurines that filled the tables and shelves. [The Hummels were behind glass.] There were these French poodles, where the puppies' collars were chained to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 3, 2007
Aww, Playmobil Child Soldiers, &c.
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } unicef_playmobil_child_soldiers, originally uploaded by daddytypes. It's not clear if these print ads for Unicef Canada...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Can You ID This Vintage Eskimo Playset?
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Vintage Eskimo Playset from the 70's, originally uploaded by daddytypes. In the off chance that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 2, 2007
O Holy Moley, The Playmobil Nativity Set
I don't know why Playmobil can still surprise me with the exhaustiveness of their playsets. The Playmobil Nativity Set's not even new; it's been around since at least 2003 [that's the date of the first Amazon review, anyway.] Though...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Is That A Cardboard Doll House I See Before Me?
I've had this 1969 Form Magazine photo of cardboard kid's furniture on my desktop all week, but I just noticed the dollhouse to the right. Ilse-Werke KG, the German company behind the furniture, leaves no trace that I can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 30, 2007
Muji Now Ready For Your Xmas Shopping List
I was going to offer up a trip to the Muji corner at MoMA's Design Store for the toy-desperate among you [the store has some of those recycled yarn-woven animals and both New York- and Countryside-in-a-Bag, though no Suburbs in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 27, 2007
Suh-weet Elephant Bank By Luigi Colani
In the 1970's, Luigi Colani took a break from designing the future to create a little elephant-shaped bank for Dresdner Bank to give out to the kids. One has found its way to Lancaster, PA, and from thence to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 26, 2007
The Show, DVD's, And Licensed Merchandise Deals Must Go On
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And when you're an Irwin, everything looks like an awareness-building merchandising opportunity, I guess. Eight-year-old Bindi Irwin, who grew up on camera the family's televised zoo/set, mourns her late father...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 25, 2007
Sweet Creative Playthings Trove From Finland Via Texas
Just in time for the holidays, eBay seller twobluepups posted a great-looking trio of vintage Creative Playthings wooden toy lots. All the auctions end Dec. 3rd. The two Playtown sets are in good condition and complete with the box,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 23, 2007
Vintage Creative Playthings Kaleidoscope: Meh.
Last month I bought an old wooden Creative Playthings kaleidoscope on eBay. The transaction went fine, but the toy itself is not that great. Now don't get me wrong: I'm with it enough to dig the potential beauty of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
E Is For Expo 67 Puzzle & Coloring Books, Also For Eh
I got all excited last night when I saw a big jigsaw puzzle from the Expo 67 in Montreal, which was the overall raddest Expo ever. [Even if there were no Buckminster Fuller sphere, Habitat, or Dutch pavilion made...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 21, 2007
Muji Barcelona-In-A-Bag, Pavilion Included
Alright, that's rather brilliant. The new addition this year to Muji's ______-in-a-Bag series of wooden toys is Barcelona. And it includes a little wooden Mies Barcelona Pavilion, along with the Sagrada Familia and La Pedrera apartments by Gaudi. The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Muji Celebrates Xmas Across The Sea
note: these particular drawn designs not included. Unless Muji is run by grinches, some of these fiiiine Xmas collection items will turn up in the new SoHo store very soon. And if not, at least you'll have it to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 20, 2007
High Five To 10 Grain For Their Molded Ply Play Furniture
Eric Pfeiffer, of the Offi and Modernseed Pfeiffers, and one of the contemporary masters of molded ply, is once again trying to mold his way into our hearts with his new furniture venture, 10 Grain, which had a sneak...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 19, 2007
Yotsubato Danbo Amazon Robot Toy Is Like Five Kinds Of Otaku
I tell you, you gotta watch out for the robots, they're turning up everywhere. This toy cardboard robot named Danbo was commissioned by Amazon Japan from Azuma Kiyohiko, the creator of the manga character Yotsuba-chan who lives with her...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 18, 2007
Paperpod Singlehandedly Revives The British Cardboard Spaceship Industry
Just as they once ruled the seas, the British once led the world in the development of the cardboard playspace race. The date was 1969, and while the US was fiddling around with some moon landing or another, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 17, 2007
Un. Be. Lievable Modernist Playhouse For Your Rather Spacious Loft
It's like the Farnsworth House without the floods; the Schindler Kings Rd House without the pegboard; the Case Study House No. 21 without the corrugated metal; the Barcelona Pavilion without the chairs [though I guess they're sold separately now.]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 16, 2007
DT Headline Roundup: Do Unto Others Edition
Clearing the browser tabs before a weekend with the grandparents: Chick-Fil-A manages to bum out yet another family with their freebie toys. I didn't call a company spokesman, but I expect they'd point out that, for us sinners, no meal...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Holy Land, Batman! Check Out These Other Pastel Toys!
So I may have been a little too cynical last night in my post about how Pastel Toys are produced. Turns out there actually is a remarkable, harmonious, nurturing village in Israel where community members of all races, religions,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 15, 2007
Pastel Toys: What's So Fun About Peace, Love & Understanding?
Not only will the classic-styled, wooden toys of Pastel Toys entertain your child with hours of open-ended, imaginative play--most of it about Diehard [L] or the Trojan War [R], probably--they'll bring peace and harmony to the cradle of Western...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Roy Toy Log Cabin Blocks Are OG, Made In Maine
So I didn't know that Lincoln Logs were developed by Frank Lloyd Wright's son, John in 1916-1917. I do know that they're currently made in China, though. Roy Toy log cabin building blocks didn't turn up until the 1930's,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Can You Arrange European Pickup For Your New M6 Kids' Convertible?
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Because then your kid could put the car through its paces at this test course...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 14, 2007
Bocós: The Blocks From Brazil
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Bocós, originally uploaded by Gizo. These sweet, screenprinted blocks put fresh characters and graphics into...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 13, 2007
Here, Have A Biscuit. Oreka Kids Plywood Play Furniture
Nothing's as fun for a kid's imagination as a cardboard box. Only problem is, no one's getting rich and/or famous just selling a cardboard box. [Unless you're The Container Store on a Sunday afternoon; holy crap, people, eight kinds...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DT Retail Scoutabout: Cities & Trikes & Marinas Edition
I'll probably add a couple of items to this retail scoutabout, since two of them aren't really retail: Befuddled Citydweller Baby Gift Alert Marilyn Singer and Carll Cneut's countdown to naptime book, City Lullaby, got a pretty glowing writeup in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 12, 2007
Sweet Canadian Minivans You Can Get, Just Not Fit Into
Fagus is Italian for beech, let's get that out of the way right now. These are two of a whole series by Fagus of sweet-looking toy vehicles made of solid beech and rubber. They're at Natural Pod, a British...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 9, 2007
Iroiro Hiromatsu Pine Blocks
Iroiro is Japanese for various, and you write it using the kanji for color, twice. And though it's not grammatically correct, it makes a nice sound up against the Hiro in Hiromatsu Furniture Company of Ogawa, in Fukuoka. Who,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 8, 2007
Sweet & Minty: Creative Playthings Giant Magnifier
Now that's nice, a Giant Magnifier from Creative Playthings, new in the box. I got one of these for the kid before she was really able to play with it; after about 2.5-3yo, she fell in love with sticking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 7, 2007
Found! That Sick $790 Mod, Spinning Dollhouse
Q: Is the obsession with mini-sized modernism that leads someone to pay $790 for a sweet-yet-anonymous, architect-made, Plexi-on-a-lazy-susan, modernist dollhouse on eBay the same kind that leads someone to create a blog devoted exclusively to modernist dollhouses? A: Yep....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Permis De Construire, Nominally Sofa-Shaped Blocks By Matali Crasset
Now that Matali Crasset has been identified as the ingenius behind the foam-block-sofa made from cheapass-immigrant-plaid-shopping bags concept, her new Permis de Construire [Construction Permit] sofa for Domeau & Peres fits even more comfortably within her oeuvre. [Though I'm...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Three's A Torendo: Sweet Wooden House Blocks In Japan
Shinichiro Nakahara is the Minoru Mori of gorgeous-grain, house-shaped wood blocks. With their single painted roof side, Gochi's toy-sized House Blocks are the genre's [relatively] flashy Roppongi Hills. Meanwhile, Landscape Products' artisanal paper and printing company, Papier Labo has gotten...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 6, 2007
I'm Telling You, Humans, The Robots Are Coming For Our Kids
And when they enslave us, it'll be through cutesy friendliness, not Decepticon-like terror. That'll come later."We expected that after a few hours, the magic was going to fade," Movellan says. "That's what has been found with earlier robots." But, in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Odkins: For Example, A Plush Flava-Flav Giraffe
I saw the real Flavor Flav bustin' around somewhere recently, wearing that damn clock, and just waiting to collect his check. Man deserves to make a living, don't get me wrong, but it just seemed a little sad that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 5, 2007
This Is Your Brain On Aqua Dots. Any Questions?
So far, the most chilling words to come out of the kid's mouth are "No, I learned it on [insert TV show name here]," as in:"And Daddy, dogs are hunters by nature." "REALLY. Did you talk about that at school?"...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
"Like Zoids Or Transformers Or Maybe Even Bigger"
That Mr. T mention got me itching to see Nizlopi's JCB Song video again, which still makes me cry, 2.5 years later. It also reminds me that Michael Bay is not worthy to scrub the road grime off of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Borat's Stuffed Thong, Or Knitted Icons: The Most Complete List
Alright, I notice there is no comprehensive list of all 25 celebrity doll patterns in Carol Meldrum's book, Knitted Icons: 25 Celebrity Doll Patterns. So I've compiled what I can from the various write-ups, which only make me wonder...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
More Plush Guts: Plush Guts From I Heart Guts
If one more set of adorable plush organs hits the market, your kid'll be able to open up his own plush CSI or plush haggis factory. The latest come from I Heart Guts, the brainchild of LA artist/designer Wendy...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 4, 2007
Danish Rattan Rocking Horse At Jennifer Delonge, Craigs Delist
From Design*Sponge we learn that Jennifer Delonge, the paragon of Westside infant chic, is now offering a carefully edited selection of "fresh" vintage furniture, or as we say in the biz, "a few great pieces." Among them: a very...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 3, 2007
DT Headline Roundup: T-Mag, C-Class, L-Word, ABC Edition
Alright, so all the headlines are from the New York Times. I'm like that guy on NY1 who reads the paper for you in the morning, only I pull out the dad-related stories: Inside The Box: I admit, I fell--hard--for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
It's My City In A Box, Baby!
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } , originally uploaded by asa*. Alright, the punch-out cardboard toy in a box student project...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Dear Floris Hovers, I Was Totally Kidding About The Lead Paint And Staples
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } L1090519.JPG, originally uploaded by mcmo's. Alright, the painted metal toys at Dutch Design Week just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 2, 2007
Core77 Covers Dutch Design Week: DT Covers Core77
So the big designblogs are rolling out their photocoverage of Dutch Design Week, which ended like a hundred years ago [or a week ago; why does this week feel like it's gone on a hundred years?]. Core77 just posted...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Suh-Weet Price On Suh-Weet Maple Hollow Blocks By Community Playthings
Alright, I've kept quiet long enough, and Andy and his readers over at Stork Bites Man have had their chance. And though I know I'll regret not buying them myself--I kind of think they'd be kind of insanely awesome...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 1, 2007
I've Been Through DWR On A Tori Folding Rocking Horse With No Name
The Tori folding rocking horse is by Plan Toys, which means it's made from sustainably harvested plantation rubberwood, and it's kind of modern. I'm still trying to figure out how it doesn't collapse mid-ride when the kid gives it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 31, 2007
Oguro Saburo Is The Hardest-Working Man In The Japanese Jigsaw Puzzle Business
After finding his hina matsuri puzzle dolls yesterday, I wanted to see more of Oguro Saburo's intricately modern work. Be careful what you wish for, the guy is a puzzle-making machine. If the jigsaws and wood planks ever rise...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 30, 2007
Plush Companion Cube [Non-Weighted]
Some noob with awesome sewing skills posted a picture of this sweet, plush Companion Cube [from the X-Box 360 game Portal] to the papercraft/origami section of rambunctious anime fansite 4chan, where Kotaku picked it up. The result: a foul-mouthed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
ITSOCUTEMAKEITSTOP! Frying Pan Bunny Is Flipping Little Wooden Burgers
Holy smokes, I just hit a spot in the Gangukan blog archives that's so sweet, I'm gonna have to eat the 5 lb bag of Tootsie Roll products we bought for Trick or Treat just to come down. Hasutani...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Whoa, The Gangukan Japanese Folk Toy Museum Has A Blog.
Check out all the awesomeness that is captured on the Gangukan's blog. They have papercraft and wood toybuilding workshops for kids, a lot of craft exhibits [eh.] and a whole array of contemporary folk toymaker showcases and posts: Momotaro-palooza: in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
FYI, Japanese Folk Toys Are Called Kyoudo Gangu
taiguruma by Futabashi Hariko, Shizuoka pref. image via That's 郷土玩具, kyoudo gangu if you're surfing at home. [that Google link will survive the posting process, even if the characters get mangled.] After seeing that beautiful suite of woodblock prints...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 29, 2007
Playmobil Dad Almost Pushes Stroller
A heads up to all those dads who don't feel validated until you've been commoditized in plastic, you may now give yourself a big hug. For the first time, Playmobil has introduced #4408, Dad with Stroller. Specifically, it looks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 28, 2007
Sweet DIY Slot-Together Cardboard Play Kitchen
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Toy Kitchen 2, originally uploaded by annam42. Very nice. Anna, a craftblogging mom who knows...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Vintage Suburban Playthings
There's a reason this eBay auction of a single-room Creative Playthings dollhouse stuffed with original matching Antonio Vitali furniture is already $75: because it's freakin' awesome. Most of it looks to be in excellent condition, even the more played-with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 27, 2007
Unaru No Tomo: Awesome Old Old Japanese Toys
.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; } .flickr-yourcomment { } .flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Japanese toy designs k, originally uploaded by peacay. From the always spectacular BibliOdyssey comes Unaru...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 26, 2007
Sweet Community Playthings Convertible Ready To Hit The Strip
From the same eBay seller--who's donating the proceeds back to the church where these old toys came from--comes this sweet, giant Community Playthings car. You could fit the whole Rat Pack in that thing, and still have room in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Community Playthings Phone Will Require Much Explanation
My first thought when I saw this vintage Community Playthings maple phone appear on eBay was, "Yow, better watch that phone cord doesn't wrap around the youngster's little neck." But then I realized, it'll take so much to explain...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 24, 2007
Must. Fondle. Japanese. Plush Breasts
I am like a deer caught in the headlights--the modestly labeled but generously sized, multi-shaded, and extremely tactile-looking headlights--of Japan's plush toy masters. The Funwari Milk-chan collection of plush breast toys includes three sizes: A cup [20cm diam.], B...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Richard Hutten Designer Slide At Dutch Design Week
The army of designbloggers is making us wait again, this time for photos and reportage from Dutch Design Week. DDW involves all the design schools as well as Dutch firms, so it should be a source of some interesting,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Wanna The Chalkboard World, Muji, And Everthinnisinnit
Holy crap. Muji better have about ten thousand of these chalkboard globes at the SoHo store when it opens November 16th. Otherwise, I will be leading the Great Muji Riot of '07. And they might want to have a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 22, 2007
RAW Clothing, Awesome Handmade Gifts, By My Modern Life
My Modern Life is an eBay seller in Lincoln Nebraska who first crossed my radar when she posted some vintage toys in insanely great condition by Creative Playthings and Kay Bojesen. As if that wasn't awesome enough, My Modern...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Where's Gumby, Dammit? Awesome Zinus Travel Pillow Thing
Coming back from Miami, I saw a kid with this crazy green Gumby-looking neck pillow on. It looked like a toy being used as a neck pillow, or some weird hybrid of the two, with that tactile nylon &...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 18, 2007
Holy Smokes, The Slot-Together Toy Church Of Dr. Caligari
In that Petaluma post this morning, DT reader Cookie [who, AFAIK, is not the pudgy-baby-hating Cookie] suggested that sweet hardwood castle set might come from a German company called Holzkram. It didn't, but just get a load of Holzkram's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Some Day My Sweet Hardwood Prince Will Come From Petaluma
Ashley is a Reggio Emilia atelierista by day, and a felt artist by night. She also has a blog with no links. Obviously, she lives in San Francisco. When she was in Petaluma, peddling her wares, she happened to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 17, 2007
Holy Flatpack! Slot-Together Bumpalow School, Circa 1931
Put that in your Dwell prefab and compost it. As early as the 1930's, Milton-Bradley was producing sweet, slot-together wooden doll houses and other play buildings as part of Bumpalow Town. There was also a store, a church, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 16, 2007
Playdate At The Mall: Friends With You's Rainbow Valley Playground
When I explained to the kid that I was going to Miami for a couple of days, she drew a blank. Then when I told her it was where the Malfi Playground was, she freaked out. And now I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
This Just In: A Bear Wearing Underwear
True, a teddy bear who's a big boy and wearing big boy underwear [we call the white ones "classics"] might help the kid along with his potty training. OR it could trigger an all-out underwear revolt when he realizes...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 14, 2007
Hello, Awesome Ikea Pull-Toys
You turn your back on that Big Blue Box for a minute, and what do they do? They plop down bins full of interesting painted wood pull toys by Canadian-in-Copenhagen designer Francis Cayouette. Cayouette seems to be one of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Book Traps
Recovergirl sets book traps and game traps for her sons, and they apparently always work:you can use book traps to divert your children to different parts of the house. I needed to clean the boy’s room but I knew...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 12, 2007
ToDo: TokiDoki Signing Party 10/13 At Yoyamart
If you've got some Moofia toys you need signed, or if you've been waiting to get near TokiDoki Simone Legno before you buy, now's your chance. Yoyamart is hosting a Tokidoki party tomorrow night, Saturday, 10/13, from 7-10pm. That's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DT Headline Roundup: Mustang Rally, Bud & Cracker Barrel Edition
"You wake up on Sunday morning -- you don't expect to see a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old hooting down the street in a car." Unfortunately, dad was not the one who was awake. On the bright side, they stopped...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 10, 2007
Sliced-Through Predator Plush, This Time As Slovenian Performance Art
Wherever there's video of plush bunnies being extracted from a giant plush predator, I am there. Regine posted about a recent performance/sculpture installation in Ljublana, Slovenia which eerily--and kind of hilariously--echoes Lizette Greco's adorable See-Through Predator video just featured on...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 8, 2007
Awww, My First Skis: Designed By Someone In New Jersey.
These vintage Creative Playthings skis are perfect--if you're one of those East Coast ski weirdos who thinks 12 inches of manmade ice and gravel counts as a ski surface. Killington? Sugar Mountain?? Gimme a break Buy the skis because...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
See-Through Predator Plush
See-through Predator from robertogreco on Vimeo. Bwahaha, medical ethics and bodily integrity implications aside, this is awesome. See-Through Predator is a wolf whose teeth were removed so he wouldn't bite his prey, and whose stomach was replaced with a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 7, 2007
The Machine By Samsonite Toys
Alright, finally. The 1972 Samsonite Toys catalogue is up and running on flickr, though a couple of pages are out of order. Check out all the plasticky goodness. With The Machine here, Samsonite ends its toy section with a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Gochi House Blocks At Chigo
Chigo, Gochi, get it? It's a Japanese thing, reversing the syllables. It's also the answer to the question left over from Bubble NY last spring, about which of designer/guru Shinichiro Nakahara's constellation of shops, publishing imprints, and design brands...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 6, 2007
Design21's Child's Play Competition: Anyone Find Anything Interesting?
This past summer, Design21 Social Design Network sponsored a competition called "Child's Play". The brief: Design an affordable object or a series of objects that a child can play with in which the function is more suggestive than prescriptive and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DTbay Roundup: Wood Toys & Indians Edition
Some things that caught my eBay eye. For some reason, they all involve $25, which variously does and does not seem right: Creative Playthings Wooden FireChief Toy Car Red Wood, opening bid $10+14 s/h? Good luck, Goodwill! Auction ends Oct...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2007
Turn Samsonite's Zoo Zoo Into Samsonite's Gitmo Gitmo In Too Easy Steps
Still working to get the scans of this 1972 Samsonite Toys catalogue finished. There were sure a lot of roller skate-type products in that first, expanded collection. There was also the People Places series, their entry into the preschool...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 4, 2007
Supercalifreakin' Me Out: Baby Einstein Blocks Recalled For Lead Contamination
I give up. If you need me, I'll be eating Veggie Booty out of a lead bowl, drinking high fructose corn syrup out of a BPA-laced sippy cup, and watching the Hoobs until I've forgotten every multisyllabic word I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 3, 2007
Like-A-Big-Wheel: The Mini-Bike, From Samsonite. Huh Wha?
How awesome is this? A ride-on bike for a one-year-old, with superfat tires so it doesn't tip over? Also, it has a badass set of ape hanger chrome handlebars? Naturally, it's from Samsonite. That's right, they were doing more...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Momoll Mia! Legno Doll House Furniture
Swiss awesome-maker Momoll has introduced a set of doll house furniture. You could use it with a Momoll slot-together doll house or their plexiglass tower of cool [shown here], or you could just use it to mod up whatever...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 2, 2007
Put'em Together And What Have You Got? Block Study Sponsor Is A Disney Licensee
This just in from the Circle of Life Department: From his research linking Baby Einstein videos [by name] to decreased vocabulary development in toddlers to his earlier findings of a link between toddler TV-watching and ADHD, to his book,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
TV-Hating Researcher's Block Company-Funded Study: Surprise! Blocks Make Your Kid Smarter
"Lead researcher Dr. Dimitri Christakis works with study blocks. Photo courtesy of Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute" In a recently published study commissioned by a Canadian block company [above foreground], Dr. Dimitri Christakis [above, left] and his colleagues at Seattle...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 1, 2007
Are Crafters The New Carnies?
Seems like we missed the Crafty Bastards Craft Fair down in DC yesterday. For a second, I thought I should be bummed, but then I realized there are about 10,000 edgy craft fairs popping up all over the country...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Bwahahahaha Park Slope Like-A-Bike-Snobs-In-Training
From the parent report at Gowanus Lounge:We were on our way back from a great afternoon in Prospect park and my son was happily gliding downhill on his "Like-a-bike" type bike that happens to be made by another brand...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Yo Jersey, Don't Let Me Catch You Painting This Creative Playthings Kitchen!
Let's face it: 35-year-old play kitchens are going to be played with. It's usually enough to find one at all, much less one in pristine shape. A three-piece Creative Playthings kitchen--sink, oven, and fridge--just hit the eBay. The stove...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
ElmoSapien: What'd I Tell You? Gotta Watch Out For The Robots
The wholly independent human robot modders of RobotsRule.com have loaded a harmless, hilarious Elmo personality into the RoboSapien, then they chopped up an Elmo hand puppet, and created a fleece RoboSapien bodysuit to complete the transformation. It's all good-natured...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Crayons That Don't Roll Off The Table
I guess the owner of the Mexican restaurant down the street went to a big restaurant expo recently, because the other night, the kid got a little coloring placemat and a pack of triangular crayons called Crayangles. Frankly, we...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 30, 2007
Jukka Disk Game & Roller Seat From Finland From Kiosk
I was wondering when the next country would turn up on Kiosk, and it has: Finland. A few times each year, the conceptual SoHo retailer scours a country for exceptionally well-designed and iconic stuff from the rare to the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 29, 2007
Slightly Puffy-Looking Dad Cops To Buying Age-Inappropriate Toys For 3-yo
Andrew Adam Newman reports on the front page of the NY Times Business section today that some parents are so distracted by the threat of lead-contaminated toys, they forget the old-fashioned dangers--like toys with many small pieces that can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 28, 2007
Backpack! Backtrack! This Week In Poisonous Toy News
So many stories about toxic toys, so little time. Even the NY Times wraps up ten different recall and lead incidents into one story these days. To celebrate the World Vinyl Forum, which was in town this week, a consumer...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 27, 2007
DT eBay Roundup: CP Farm, Swing & Miami Beach Netto
A few things I'm seeing on eBay--and not bidding on, so I don't mind telling you about them. This is how [some of] your eBay news is made, people! CREATIVE PLAYTHINGS 60'S WOOD LEARNING TOYS FARM An early set of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 26, 2007
Copyright Cluster*@&#: Sweet Vintage Noguchi Playground Scans On Flickr
I don't know about you, but all this copyrighted image outrage just wears me out! Let's take a funbreak--and look at these sweet archival images of Isamu Noguchi's various playground designs which archiblogger Andrew Raimist uploaded to flickr. They were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 25, 2007
The World's Iconic Brands In A Puzzle--Plus Atypyk
Coke McDonald's Nike Apple Playboy... uh, Pine Tree Air Freshener At first I thought the theme of this puzzle was Junk You Haven't Brought In From The Car. But then I realized that the white circle in the upper...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 21, 2007
Formwerks Went To The Eames Gallery, And All I Got Was This Lousy--Holy Crap, Dude! Is That A Molded Ply Rocking Horse??
This summer, the Eames Office and Vitra issued a limited-edition, molded plywood elephant based on an early, experimental design that Ray and Charles Eames made for their own kids, but never put into production. [Two were made; the Eames...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 20, 2007
There's A Party In My Wallet: Yo Gabba Gabba Toys Will Drop By Thanksgiving
Yo Gabba Gabba! definitely wants to be invited to the Christmas party in your wallet. Kid Robot, the vinyl toy subsidiary of YGG! production company WildBrain just announced to retailers that Yo Gabba Gabba vinyl and plush dolls will...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
H Is For Han Shot First
StarWars.com blogger Neil Baker made a Star Wars Alphabet for fellow Star Wars bloggers to put on Star Wars t-shirts to wear to the Celebration IV Star Wars anniversary commemoration a few months back. Then he turned his alphabet...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 19, 2007
Gear Of Son Of Crunchgear
Gearblogger extraordinaire [and onetime DT guestblogger] John Biggs posted some highlights of his son Kasper's inventory at Crunchgear. There's a Quinny Buzz, some select Ikea, a few annoying plastic toys, and my favorites: actual obsolete gadgets and Polish-language toys from...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 18, 2007
Creative Playthings Slow Truck Perfect For Your Little Tank Girl
British toy designer Patrick Rylands created the Slow Truck in 1972. It was made for Creative Playthings by the German company Schuco. There was also a Slow Bus, which looks more like a bright red Slow Winnebago. Both toys...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Robots In The Nursery
Artist/illustrator Patrick Lau started with a painting of a robot for his kid's nursery, which began, as his wife Maya put it, "to slightly have a theme." He added giant gears to the walls, and there's a shelf full...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 16, 2007
Beat Blocks: Insta-Rhythms From Wooden Blocks
Beat Blocks are an extraordinarily simple interface for a midi controller and rhythm sequencer. The grid represents four measures x four percussion outputs. The stripes on each block represent the beats within each measure. You compose instantly and in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 14, 2007
A Children's Workshop For [Children] Making Toys
I don't know what we'd do with all the leftover product liability lawyers, but if putting kids to work building their own toys is good for disabled kids in developing countries, why not do it here, too? Solve the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 13, 2007
Are You Sitting Down? Because The Toy Industry Wants The CPSC To Bend Over
So last week's shock at a toy industry request for the federal government to set new safety testing standards has definitely worn off, even before Consumerist described the proposal as "an over-hyped batch of self-serving hogwash." DT reader Mark quickly...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 12, 2007
Playmobil Disaster At Times Square Toys R Us
My rather short-notice trip to the Times Square Toys R Us yesterday was not a total cultural disaster [though I'm glad the kid didn't tag along; the suddenly animated animatronic T-Rex would've freaked her action out, let me tell...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
CPSC: Can We Fix It? Not Bloody Likely! "Bob Our Small Parts Guy" Debuts On CSPAN
Un. Be. Lievable. What a train wreck. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee which oversees the Consumer Products Safety Commission is holding a hearing on toy safety, toy recalls, and the utter shambles that is the CPSC and the Toy Industrial Complex's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 11, 2007
Muistipeli Is Finnish For Matching Game
This set of matching cards use rather insanely complex fabric designs from Marimekko. Like Frank Lloyd Wright and his Froebel blocks, these cards are just the kind of thing your kid'll latch onto as the singular inspiration for his...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 10, 2007
Wait, Say Again? What To Get Lil Derrick For His 4th Birthday?
1) Scarface: Widescreen 20th Anniversary Edition DVD, which was issued in 2003, the year he was born. 2) Dead hookers & blow 3) A toy gun with a whistle in the barrel. 4) An appointment for Big Derrick to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 6, 2007
You Sitting Down? Toymakers Request Federal Safety & Testing Standards
I'm not sure I even now how to type these words in this order, so I'll have to cut-n-paste from the NY Times story just out:Acknowledging a growing crisis of public confidence caused by a series of recent recalls, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 4, 2007
Media Frenzy: More Recalls, More Hollow Industry Reassurance
So when I posted two days ago that there were more Mattel recalls coming down the pike, I didn't think I meant today. But there you have it, the AP is reporting Mattel is recalling 675,000 Barbie accessories for lead...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Mario Power-Up Cube Mobile
When the Mobile Industrial Complex left him high and dry, new dad Will took matters into his own hands. Now he just watches for the day when his Baby not-Mario can jump up and reach these question cubes; that's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 3, 2007
Hung Like A Rocking Horse: Belgian Three-Way Ride-On Toy By Romy Di Donato
At the big-in-Belgium Bois+Habitat expo last spring, Romy di Donato won the Design Wood Etudiants category for her design for a transformable birch ply riding toy. Snap the two arcs into the top, and it's a sweet, abstracted rolling...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 1, 2007
CPSC 'Complete Disaster': Bush Administration Sides With Big Everything On Everything
I'm running out of pretend-surprise. The NY Times has a damning article about the Consumer Products Safety Commission, which has been systematically weakened, rendered ineffective, and nearly destroyed by the Bush Administration's appointees, who promised their former employers--manufacturers, corporate...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 31, 2007
Decide Your Own Lead Levels By Making Your Kid's Toys Yourself!
If you're sick of waiting for months--or even years--for a recall to find out just how much lead is in your kid's Made In China toys, have I got the blogpost for you! Craftzine has rounded up a giant list...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 29, 2007
Probo The Huggable Hospital Robot Is Obviously From Europe
The University of Brussels and the ANTY Project are developing a friendly, plush hospital robot for diagnostic and therapeutic use with children. Despite getting burned on the Teddy Ruxpin thing a few years back, Bill Gates is involved in underwriting...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 28, 2007
Blockspotting: My Aunt's Sweet, Vintage Alphabet Blocks
I still can't forget how nice these blocks felt, and how beautiful they are. On a visit to my grandmother's this summer, the kid got to play in the same basement toy closet I did [it used to be...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 25, 2007
WHOA, FULL STOP. Spongmonkey Plush Toys???
Have you ever had one of those moments where you suddenly question the way you've lived your life and all the choices and assumptions you've made, and you just stare in baffled rage at your reflection in the mirror, wondering...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Synergroovy! Creative Playthings Toy News Truck & Camera
Hilariously inevitable. A toy TV news van with a detachable microphone and camera on top, that flips over into a giant toy studio camera, complete with a lens. From Creative Playthings, during the late A Division of CBS years,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 23, 2007
After BPA Blurb, Publicists Reach Out To "Headline Parenting" "Expert"
So while I didn't get on CBS yesterday, I did get a quote in the Washington Post's article about the latest developments in the whole Bisphenol A toxic plastic baby bottle controversy. [I guess that means I'm not TV-hot, only...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 21, 2007
Like-A-Vespa
This Like-a-Bike-like walking scooter practically demands to be covered with mod decals and several rearview mirrors. And if anyone knows where to get a kid-sized army jacket, I know where to get an iron-on target t-shirt. [And speaking of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 20, 2007
Bwahaha, Handknit Lemmings Plunging Off Handknit Cliff
[pet-killers: 1, peer-reviewed science: 0!] In the classic 1958 nature documentary White Wilderness, filmmakers for the Walt Disney Company faked a lemming migration and over-the-cliff suicide plunge using pet lemmings they bought from Inuit children. As a result, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DTQ: What's Missing From The Non-Fugly Kids Market?
DT reader, advertiser, and mailing list drawing prize donor Mark from Sparkability took a break from his sweet kids design guru-ing to email his list of the Top Ten Most Needed Kids Products:Cribs under $400 Doll/Play furniture (crib/cradle/highchair) Cookie Jar...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 17, 2007
Consumer Reports: Keep All Magnetic Toys Out Of Houses With Young Children
One of the kid's favorite toys is Magna-Tiles. She plays with them every day. They're awesome. They spread like an irresistible marketing virus from playdate to playdate, from cousin to cousin. Not counting the dozen or so folks each...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 14, 2007
Mattel CEO Announces He's A Dad! Also, That They're Recalling 10 Million More Unsafe Toys
Mattel took out full-page ads in several national newspapers today so that CEO Robert Eckert could tell "fellow parents" that he's "a father of four." And then this morning, Mattel and the CPSC held a press conference to announce the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 13, 2007
Fisher-Price Factory Owner Kills His Lead-Painting Self
So a freelance reporter staged a story about Beijing pork buns being stuffed with soggy cardboard, not pork, and he gets sentenced to a year in prison for, as the Associated Press quotes it, "infringing on the reputation of a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 12, 2007
There Is No Craigslist In Peru, Illinois
I've been to some remote places in Illinois in my day [Pontoosuc in the house!], but the closest I've got to Peru was that one crazy weekend I drove out from Chicago to the opening gala for the new...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 11, 2007
Patented Modernist Dollhouses
Ever the eBay shark, Andy found this sweet, modernist plywood-and-plexi dollhouse for sale on eBay and posted it to Stork Bites Man. The description says it was designed and built by an architect; the plexiglass walls can slide out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 10, 2007
Woo Hoo! Tokidoki + ducduc + Yoya Colabo Crib
Colabos are nothing new for the indie and art toy world, but products for actual kids are. The plush & vinyl toy boom is a bit weird in that it ignores the traditional toy customers--children--in favor of still-a-kid-on-the-inside twentysomethings...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Flickr Dad: It's My Kid In A Bakfiets Baby
Flickr user Hive carried a baby bakfiets home in a bakfiets. Then the baby put the baby holding the baby in the baby bakfiets. [note: it makes plenty of sense in Dutch.] Bakfiets op Bakfiets; Kinderbakfiets [hive's flickr stream,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 7, 2007
HOLYCRAPITSOCUUUUTE: Octopie Plush Octopus Boy From Plushplay
The thing is, Octopie would probably be the cutest polar fleece plush octopus boy around even if his spots weren't "hand-felted with Merino wool." And yet, they are. Fifty bucks, get it while it's there. But if you miss...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Little Marc Box At Colette Is A Desperate Cry For Help
Since Marc Jacobs has come so clean about overcoming all his addictions lately, I will, too: I'm a recovering Colette-oholic. I wrestled with my problem for years, even though to be honest, I usually found their highly edited [i.e.,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 5, 2007
Is There Anything The Japanese Haven't Turned Into Plush?
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, I think I feel a Mind-Bending Plush Week coming on. Or, you know, just a handful of Japanese-market dolls for sale in the eBay Store of anime plush/collectibles specialist Saltypear. I feel like we're just scratching...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 1, 2007
Get The Hell Away From My Kid, Diego! Get The Hell Away! Mattel/Fisher-Price Recalls 1MM Toys For Lead Paint Contamination
Maybe it would be easier if all the companies left who don't sell hyper-popular licensed character toys contaminated with lead paint could please raise your hand? Anyone? Fisher-Price, whose Made in America toys we all gnawed on as children, has...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 31, 2007
Vintage Soviet Pedal Cars To Vintage American Pedal Cars: We Will Crush You
Jalopnik's already got the perfect headline for this sweet collection of vintage images of Soviet-era pedal cars, so I'll just add, "You had'em on the run, Comrades!" From this angle, the Moskovich looks a bit like The People's MB...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 30, 2007
It's Baaack: Sled Of Death, Other Creative Playthings Goodness On eBay
There's a pile of sweet old gear on eBay at the moment, both of the Creative Playthings and Creative Way To Break Your Neck, Young Man! Playthings varieties: CREATIVE PLAYTHINGS ESKIMOS PLAYSET vintage FP little Looks complete, in nice...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rocket Craft: Stunning Plush Rendition Of Your Car, Bike, Engine
Holy smokes, it's like Take-G, only with plush instead of wood, and your car and its engine instead of fantastical anime robots. Rocket Craft is an outfit in Sapporo who will create a plush replica of your car, precise...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I'll Have The Plush Roast Chicken
Purple Flavor makes a fine-looking plush roast chicken. From the size of the plastic box it comes in, I expect it's life-sized. Or corner deli rotisserie-sized, anyway. The felt herbs and seasoning look a little choke-hazard-y, so you might...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 29, 2007
SDCCspotting: Coney Plush & Neighborwood DIY Kit
Here are a couple of interesting-looking SDCC finds from Kidrobot's photostream: Up top is a DIY version of Mike Burnett's awesome Neighborwood toy figure. When it comes to the preferred mediums of the indie toy scene, wood is a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 28, 2007
R2-KT: This Is The Pink Droid You're Looking For
Wow, I was definitely taken in by The Dark Side of The Force on this one. I was about to blast George Lucas like a Tatooine womp rat when I saw this picture of a kid hugging a pink...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 23, 2007
Cute Knitted Bear From Suburban Outfitters
Oops, I mean Anthropologie. My bad. I saw these in the store window on the way to pick up my laptop with the [finally!] fixed hard drive, and I figured they were just display props, but no. There's a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 19, 2007
Cuddle Me Condos In Color, Also Correction, Also Sibling Names
The visionaries at Pandiscio have graciously provided a color version of Bela Borsodi's portrait of Cuddle Me Condos, and I think we can all agree that One Kenmare has never looked moodier, Urban Glass House has never looked whippier, 40...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hand-Knit Fruits & Vegetables From London, Eng-uh-land
Innocent Drinks, the Nantucket Naked Jambodwalla Juice of England, sure loves themselves some knitting. DT reader Eim tells me the kid's grandma-knitted iPhone made it into the newletter this week [screenshots, anyone?]. Also, they featured some fair-trade knitted fruit...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 18, 2007
Damn Earthquake Cuts Daddy Types Japanese TV Fame Short, Still At 15 Seconds
If only there hadn't been an earthquake and hundreds of injuries and several deaths and a fire in a nuclear power plant and a release of some sort of radiation cloud, my 15-second, on-the-phone interview about discovering the wooden...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 17, 2007
Tupperware Noah's Ark Triggers Flood Of Childhood Memories
So DT reader Tim writes about how their 1-yo son loves playing with their older friend's Tupperware Noah's Ark when they go to visit. And I'm like, "Tupperware Toys? Are you kidding me? I had no idea!" And sure...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Switch Pitch By Chuck Hoberman
Sheesh, PingMag is clearing up all sorts on Asian inscrutability. First, mystery octopus playground equipment, and now magically transforming plastic balls. When we went to visit the in-laws in Hong Kong last winter, they gave the kid one of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 16, 2007
Tako-no-Yama: The Itinerant Octopus Slide Builders Of Japan
In the 1960's in Japan, when the Maeda Outdoor Art Company unveiled a serpentine mound of polished concrete called "Play Sculpture: Stone Mountain," someone trying to be helpful told the artist, "If you'd just put a head on it,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Right Here Over The Rainbow, Baby: Whitney Brothers Bentwood Blocks
Whoa, these are awesome. This is the molded ply block equivalent of a box full of nothing but Crunch Berries. Normally you'd have to buy twenty Creative Playthings Airfield Sets to get this many air hangar-shaped blocks, and even...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Oops. CP Hollow Blocks Are Being Knocked Off Already. By CP.
Yeah, so, when I suggested Creative Playthings Hollow Blocks were long overdue for knock-offery, I guess I assumed the hollow block sets filling up our nation's Montessori schools and daycare centers were all 30+ years old. Actually, I don't...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Amphibious Assault Vehicle On eBay
The description says this is a trolley/street car, but anyone this side of Fallujah knows better. It's a maquette from a top secret, Cold War-era envisioning project for the Rand Corporation, in which Creative Playthings, Disney and others were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 14, 2007
HIV Amigurumi Toy: Use Protection When You Play
Etsy artist Le Petit Bijou will donate $3 of each purchase of this hand-crocheted amigurumi HIV to Blood:Water Mission, an NGO which provides clean water to health care facilities in Africa. BWM was founded by the members of the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 12, 2007
Q: Any "Conscientious" Toy Companies Out There?
Lead painted Thomas engines, poisonous Veggie Booty powder, rubber duckies with a 5,000-year landfill half-life, the environmental insanity of shipping Fiji Water around the world. DT reader Shawna emailed with a question I've been wondering myself. Are there any "conscientious...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
TRU CSR WTF? Fisher-Price Stroller Box Full Of Legos
A mother of three bought a boxed Fisher-Price Stand 'n Ride Duo Stroller off the showroom floor of the local Toys R Us. Street value: $150. When they got home and opened the box, eight boxes of Legos Bionicles...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 11, 2007
DT Retail Scoutabout: Bugaboos And Space Shuttles Edition
image: Space Shuttle tray from Pecoware via superlocal's flickr stream Some news, sales and rumours from the retail wing of the Baby Industrial Complex: First, the bad news: DT reader Ndele reports that when he and his wife tried...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
1955 PopMech Dad Makes Toy Rocket From Bomb
Don't worry, the 500-pound bomb was lined with rubber as part of the conversion to a toddler plaything. If there's any sense in the world, this thing should be turning up at a Honolulu garage sale someday. Popular Mechanics,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 10, 2007
White House Pets & Puppets [That Aren't On FoxNews]
When First Lady Laura Bush went on her whirlwind Africa tour a couple of weeks ago, First Twin [Second First Daughter?] Jenna accompanied her. At the end of a visit at an elementary school in Bamako, Mali which had...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Playskool Poundin' Bedbugs
What exactly is the Playskool Poundin' Bedbugs supposed to teach? Apparently, you take that long, hard, red thing into the bed, where you pound and pound and pound on the little nubby things until you're completely worn out. They,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Toxic Industrial Cloud Plush Toy
I can't beat - Dutch artist Dennis Douven's own description of Cloud X.1:‘Cloud X.1’ is an environmentally conscious 10″ handmade plush, patterned after the Toxic industrial cloud creatures which I first created as a street art sticker, named: ‘Little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 6, 2007
Cool-But-Incomplete Toy Week Continues On eBay
A couple of otherwise promising toys on eBay seem to be missing a piece or two: 1975 Creative Playthings AMERICAN INDIAN Little People, ends July 10th, starting bid: $10+$7.55s/h result: sold for $11.50+s/h This is the coolest of the CP...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 4, 2007
My Mom Hand-Knit An iPhone
My mom was insanely cool even before she knitted an iPhone. Last week, as the hype was peaking, I braced for reports of kids across the country grabbing for their parents' new iPhones; it was a drool-soaked disaster waiting...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 3, 2007
Detacho Modular Doll House For Modular Families
The simple, clean appearance of Ben Forman's Detacho doll house system belies a very sophisticated, flexible pedagogical program. It's designed to acommodate a variety of different family scenarios: separated, single, or divorcing parents; "casual" and "office" parents; new step-parents;...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
ReBuilding Center Dollhouse
Wow, it's amazing how the same basic idea--make the kid a modernist dollhouse out of recycled building materials--can have such different executions. Dutch's Miesian townhouse is spare and unfinished to an extreme, letting the kid play God by filling...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Little Tikes Cozy Coupe Tuning?
David from Hemming's sent me this link to Sniff Patrol's latest spy shots of the BMW 1-Series, which got me thinking about sweet, small coupes. Totally unrelated to that sight gag, I remember seeing a momblogger who'd repainted her kid's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 2, 2007
What's the difference between Swedish Actress Liv Ullmann and Barbie?
With the animated TV show and Marvel comic, and the character names and backstory created around a bunch of generic Japanese robot toys, The Transformers were multimedia cross-promotion from the moment Hasbro launched them in 1984. But Anthony Lane is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
This Is How We Roll With Lowly Worm
I never go to Hoopty Rides looking for kid-related enlightenment, but when I find it there, it's always superlative. Of a Missouri amusement ride company's recent liquidation auction, Mister Hoopty wrote:One assumes that intellectual property [being sold] includes the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome Dutch Miesian Dollhouse Costs $15 And Half A Day
That's Dutch as in JD, Juniper's dad, of course, not the country. Though the Netherlands is known for the quality of their kid's design, I'm afraid the whole Bugaboo-pushing lot of them takes a backseat to our Dutch, who...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 29, 2007
Uma, Chupacabra. Chupacabra, Uma
Congratulations to Ugly Dolls creators David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim on the delivery, safe and sound, of little UMA. Horvath writes on his blog that UMA only became a reality for them when they saw that first sonogram, a feeling...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
LOLOL Eero Aarnio Puppy: Three For $98 At DWR
Unbelievable. DWR is having their summer sale. Among the deals on offer: three--yes, three--Eero Aarnio Puppies, originally $99 each, for just $98. WITH FREE SHIPPING. Ridiculously cheap, and yet $22 MORE than the Netto crib & changing table. I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Q: Buying Plush Toy Sushi While Pregnant?
That soft travel puzzle map of the United States set me to poking around, especially after AJ mentioned the lameness of another soft travel book, a puzzle-looking solar system where the planets are sewed in place, by the same...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Vintage Brio Pulltoys On Swedish eBay
train ends july 1, currently 120SEK [$US18], 4 bids Getting a little weary of posts about vintage Creative Playthings toys on eBay? How about something completely different: vintage Brio toys on Swedish eBay! You might think of Brio as...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 28, 2007
Freeway-Shaped Miles Carpet By Big-Game
In their interview with MocoLoco, members of the Swiss design firm Big-Game explain that each object in their new Plus Is More collection is created using a simple strategy: "We never use shapes as a starting point, always ideas."...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Stuffed US Map Travel Puzzle
When I was little, I learned the states from the hand-painted map on the neighbor's camping trailer, which they filled in every summer: "All Lower 48!" it said. Also, I had a beat jigsaw puzzle, where Rhode Island was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 27, 2007
Cuddle Me Condos: Residential Starchitecture Plush Toys
What becomes a legendary building in an overheated Manhattan real estate market most? Lesser breeds of developers have been known to hire fashion designers to decorate the lobby. To commission Jade Jagger to put her name on the galley kitchen....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 26, 2007
Skip*Hop Playspot Challenges Red-Yellow-Blue Playmat Hegemony
It's such an obvious question, it's like it's been staring us in the face. Right under our noses. Or our feet. In fact, I'm looking at one right now. It's the perpetually in-your-face reminder of the Baby Industrial Complex's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Ceci N'est Pas Un $100,000 Sock Monkey
So you have a teaching aid for helping the kid understand why Joseph Beuys whispered to a dead rabbit's ear. If only there was some cuddly way of explaining Mike Kelley's equally iconic 1989 sculpture, Estral Star [above], which...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Abolish The Multiracial Family Doll Tax NOW
While shopping for a doll family recently, AJ of Thingamababy discovered that sets are only available in single shades, such as "Modern", "Ethnic", and "Asian". Matching the skin tones of a multiracial family means buying each doll separately, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
NYT Reporter Detained At Thomas The Tank Engine Factory
Not a lot of lead hazard-related updates in the acccount of NY Times business reporter David Barboza's recent visit to the Thomas & Friends factory in China. Just the usual stuff about how it's run by a gang of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 25, 2007
Beuys & Art Bunnies, Bunnies Dell'Arte
I've got so many tabs open in my browser it's dragging my whole [ancient backup] computer down. But I'm glad I waited a couple of days to post these sweet, Venetian crafty plush bunnies from Imegadito. Their stuff is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 24, 2007
Going, Going, Gone: Kids Eames, Japanese Dump Trucks, Community Playthings On eBay
Here are a few interesting-looking kid-related finds on eBay at the moment: Charles Eames Childs Arm Shell Herman Miller CHAIR, ends Jun 29, currently $10+18 s/h When we last saw our mysterious child-sized, Eames-looking fiberglass shell chairs, their mod-savvy eBay...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 21, 2007
Hand-Crocheted Tool Belt: Il Golfini Per Il Lavoratori
Except for the whole propagandistic profiteering by making dangerously inaccurate War On Terror Finger Puppets for an Administration-friendly design demagogue thing, Il Golfini della Nonna can do no wrong in my eyes. They're wonderful people--artists, all--who support entire communities...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 20, 2007
Sean Preston Earns $288.37 The Hard Way
All's I'm saying is, someone besides Sean Preston better damn well have gotten a free car out of this shameless product placement stunt. Your Turn To Judge: Whose kid is driving a Cadillac Escalade? [x17/jezebel via metrodad] Previously: Metrodad...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Haba Play Cooker Simulates Tiny Apartment Living
This was so cool. I saw this at Kid-o yesterday, and it was immediately obvious that this Play Cooker from Haba is the perfect toy kitchen for city living or for cultivating brilliant, possibly misunderstood, writers. No bigger than...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 18, 2007
Single Dose Bubbles From Germany
These are awesome. Bubbles without the bottle. Three packs and a wand are $9 in SoHo at Kiosk, the incredible concept store by the same folks who brought us Salvor Fauna. Kiosk scours a particular country for beautiful, unusual,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 16, 2007
Daddy Surfs 6: Golliwogs
Turns out the inky black Rufty Tufty was just the tip of the golliwog iceberg [Oh wait.] Golliwoggs, as they were originally spelled, became a wildly popular staple of British kid life for most of the 20th century. In...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 15, 2007
The Morrinho Project: My First Favela Playset
Spectacular. Morrinho ['little hill' in Portuguese] began in 1997 as the plaything of a 14-year-old boy in Pereirão, a hillside favela of Rio de Janiero. It's a toy model of the favela itself, constructed on an abandoned hill out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Let's Go Riding In My Munny Mobile
I was going to ask for some suggestions on how the kid and I should pimp out the Mini Munny Mobile that Kidrobot sent us to try out, but then I saw that they launched a Munny Mobile Custom...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 14, 2007
It's Already Too Late For The Rabbits: Creative Playthings Noah's Ark Of Death
This Creative Playthings wooden Noah's Ark looks fantastic--unless you're a small, chewing-prone child or a rabbit. The pieces are all in great shape, but they're smaller than modern safety standards require [as the description says, "...WAY to many 'choking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Are You OK? Rubbernecking The Thomas Train Wreck
Feast your eyes on all the Thomas & Friendsâ„¢ Wooden Railway Toys models that were recalled because their paint contains levels of toxic lead, aka the element voted Most Likely To Keep Your Kid Out of Harvard. The recall...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
No Word On X-Ray Glasses, But Comic Book Ad Submarine Didnt' Suck
Like everyone else, I wanted sea monkeys and x-ray goggles. Unlike one guy, though, I was never able to convince my parents to pony up for the crap advertised in comic books. Now it turns out, the $6.98 Polaris...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Dad Headline Roundup: Don't Hold The Train! Edition
Brand recall: Holy smokes, 1.5 million Thomas The Tank Engine toys are being recalled for lead paint. Wooden railway stuff sold over the last two years. See the CPSC for details [cpsc.gov, via dt reader john] And the Salary.com...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 13, 2007
Design For Kids Smorgasbord At H&G
When I see the glitzy, glamorously-produced kids' design features in the latest edition of House & Garden--and on the H&G website--I feel like a flea market shlub who has a bougainvillea-filled urban entertainment center open across the street. DT's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 11, 2007
Parts Is Parts: Piles Of Creative Playthings Vehicles On eBay
Yeah, the purist in me cries a little to see fragments from so many broken up Creative Playthings Playtown sets: there's the boat from a Marina; there's the helicopters from the Air Field. The luggage haulers, too [hey, weren't...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Let's Stitch Frank! Sew-It-Yourself Toys From Egg Press
Egg Press has released Let's Stitch Frank!, a hand-screened canvas dog kit that's the first in a promised series of sew-it-yourself toys. [Well, the first if you don't count Hoot and Scoot, the other DIY stuffed animals Egg does.]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 9, 2007
L'Etat, C'est This Keith Haring Rocking Baby
image: haring.com I generally like my Keith Haring on a wall, preferably loadbearing. [Did you know the Boy's Club of NY building which had that Keith Haring mural, the one in that Sesame Street segment, was just torn down?...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 8, 2007
Abba To Zappa: Awesome Pop Star Alphabet By Craig Robinson
In 2004, the London ad agency Mother created "Abba to Zappa", a campaign for the Observer Music Magazine that featured a glorious, flashcard-style collection of pop star portraits. The images were made by the pixel-happy artist and illustrator Craig...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 7, 2007
Auction Oddities From A Car Collector
On Sunday, RM Auctions is selling the car collection of longtime Detroit Pontiac dealer John McMullen. There are over 80 vintage cars, most of which hold little appeal to me; or I guess I just need to learn to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
New York, New York A Helluva Town For A Frank Gehry Playground
As everyone now knows, modernist playgrounds are the new hotness. And as everyone who knows modernist playgrounds knows, during the Robert Moses era, the New York Parks Department suffocated many a sweet modern playground proposal in its crib. Creative...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rookie, The World's Slowest Rocking Horse, By Hidetaka Nakahara
It's always interesting how things can look different from the opposite side of the world. For example, if I had designed a rocking horse with hinged hindquarters that could actually move forward as you rock it, I might look...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 5, 2007
Come Along, Children, You Can Shake Your Booties Down On The Creative Playthings Dock.
If you've been looking for just the right Flying Wasp for your kid to christen, hie thee ho, on down to this vintage Playtown Marina from Creative Playthings. Sure, it's a marina, not a yacht club, so there's not...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Stunning Wood Toys By Take-G
These spectacular figures are Fujin and Raijin, Wind Guy and Rain Guy. They're by Nakagawa Takeji, a 32-year-old toymaker in Nagano, Japan. Nakagawa's Take-g Toys [though it's a spin on his first name, it's pronounced like English] specializes in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 3, 2007
Rockin' Blocks Graffiti Alphabet Blocks By Beebles
I can't believe no one's bought a set of these sweet-looking graffiti alphabet blocks yet, even though they've been on etsy for a couple of months now. It says right there, they're "not just for the hipster baby mind...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
"You Oobi, Huh? I Design Your Eyes."
Except that his creation hasn't come back to slaughter him--yet--Hobey Ford is Dr. Hannibal Chew to Oobi's Roy. The North Carolina puppeteer was issued a design patent in 1996 for Finger Puppets, the bulging eyes-on-ring device that turns a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 2, 2007
So I'm Weak. Japan-Only Little Bony Plush Toys At Giant Robot
What month was it that I said the kid watches Japanese TV shows so that we can break the TV character - licensed merchandise - store aisle feedback loop? Way back in February? Yeah, well. I just ordered a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 1, 2007
Rocking Dinosaurs, Both DIY And Thrifted
Sarah With An H thrifted out this sweet rocking dinosaur last fall for just five bucks. While I was trying to identify it {note: which I never did. Anyone recognize it?], I found plans to make a different rocking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
DIY Kid-sized Robot Rickshaw
So the kid's Miniboo is sitting in the corner of her room for a year-plus with one of the wheels broken off, meanwhile, a Mr. Wu of Somewhere Outside Beijing has made not one, but two robot-powered rickshaws, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 31, 2007
Chef Robuchon Beanie Baby Almost Done
With just over five hours to go before the auction ends, this Chef Robuchon Beanie Baby bear is clocking in at $1,625. According to Jennifer the Snackologist who posted about them last year, Ty made just 200 of these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 30, 2007
Better Homes & Gardens For Dolls, Circa 1972
Hey-o, a fantastically mod doll house--with a floating fireplace, no less--that you make yourself with tinted and transparent acrylic, balsa wood, an ice cream carton lid, and some blocks? Damn right it's better. You know what'd be even better,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Oh, Don't Mind Hari & Parker, They're Just Hanging Out. And Watching You.
What's that, you didn't get the memo that it's Onkar Singh Kular Week here at Daddy Types? Don't sweat it, neither did I. image via wmmna Truth be told, it was the adorable little eyes of Hari & Parker peeking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Jack The Dripper & World Cup Rattle: PSP Toy Concepts By Onkar Singh Kular
Last summer, Royal College of Art research fellow Onkar Singh Kular exhibited two proposals for PSP video games and tie-in merchandise at the Victoria Miro Gallery in London. For The End Of The Road, a driving game where "players...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
WonderWood, WonderWood, We're On Our Way
If your summer travel plans take you to Amsterdam, you may want to schedule a trip to WonderWood, a veritable temple to plywood and wooden modernist design. The incredible, little, 1950's children's bucket chair made of molded ply with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 28, 2007
The Wrong Store, Wrong Artist & Wrong Toy Car
One of the "you had to be there" events during New York Design Week last week was the opening party for The Wrong Store, a closed up, curated display window/concept store which was inspired by Maurizio Cattelan & co's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 24, 2007
Fire Chief Car In A Box, Baby! Pristine Creative Playthings Fire Chief Car On eBay
Christmas: chief in a box Hanukkah: chief in a box Kwanzaa: a chief in a box Birthday party in the Fifties that someone ended up skipping, and so the present went undelivered and was stored in a cool, dry place...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Vintage Swedish Play Screen By Stephan Gip, c.1970
Wait, you mean the Stephan Gip? The guy who designed the original trapezoidal high chair that has been knocked off and sold to every sitdown restaurant in the Western Hemisphere, that Stephan Gip? Yep....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 22, 2007
Tour De Form: Alfred Mahlau's 500-pc Wooden Hamburg Harbor Playset
Unglaublicht. If you haven't clicked through to the pictures in that 1964 Form Magazine article about toy design yet, get going. We'll wait. ... ... OK, So now you've seen that there is no more over-the-top wooden toy in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Whoa. UglyQuilt
So David Horvath and Sun-Min are having a kid, and the folks running the Ugly Doll business figure they oughta get them something nice. Or maybe make something. Like, say, an Ugly Doll quilt??? Holy smokes, that is awesome....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
F Is For Fabulous: Vintage Wooden Sand Train By F. Linau, Hamburg
In 1964, Lieselotte Pee, the noted play and pedagogy expert and member of the Arbeitsausschusses Gutes Spielzeug [Good Toys Working Commitee], wrote an extensive article for Form Magazine about the state of toys and design. I have no idea what...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Creative Playthings Playsets O'The World On eBay
Anal retentive parents of 1975 who made your kids keep track of all their toys and store them in the original boxes, we salute you. Three Creative Playthings People 'N Places playsets hit the eBay the other day; in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 20, 2007
And Povl Kjaer’s Rockingsheep Is Not Like Taxidermy Because....
This has been on a few blogs, and I just got an email about it, too, from DT reader/ICFF scout Ed [who, for the record, is not the same "ed." who comments on the comments]. Povl Kjær's Rockingsheep is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
ICFFSpotting: Hot Cot At Notcot, Nume Design, And More
The online galleries are starting to fill up with design eye candy from the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC this weekend. There are a few baby- and kid-related snaps in NotCot's first upload: At first I was distracted by...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 19, 2007
Nintendo Baby Rattle
I gotta say, I'd like this Nintendo Controller baby rattle more if it was on etsy, not craftser. Until I can buy one in ten seconds, it's just sewing machine people rubbing it in my face, and that gets...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 18, 2007
I Have One Word For You: Crawligators
Another one of them Crawligator baby skateboards from Creative Playthings just turned up on eBay, box and all. If it goes for as much as the last one did, I think we all need to get into the Crawligator racket....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 17, 2007
Vintage Nesting Boxes By ADO Speelgoed
One of DT's contributors, Andy Beach, has been going crazy with his own new blog the last few weeks, Reference Library; it's so sweet, I don't mind a bit that he's diverting most of his vintage toy and eBay...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 16, 2007
I [Heart] Milton Glaser's MoMA Cube Puzzle
In 1971, after he had finished founding New York magazine and before he created the "I [Heart] N Y" logo, Milton Glaser designed Puzzle Cube, a set of 64 op arty, acrylic blocks, as a "Museum of Modern Art...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 15, 2007
Daddymade Newborn Toy Kits
I would imagine if you're running a handcrafted wooden toy company in a fully developed, expensive country like Germany, you constantly feel pressure from low-cost factories in China or Vietnam or Romania or wherever. What's the logical strategic response?...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 14, 2007
Paper Or Plastic?
This is what I was planning to post about when I got sidetracked with the Grand Pronouncement. One other thing that's appealing about rooting around in the so-not-musty online archives of design magazines is the sense of control and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Regarding What's Up With The Vintage?
A couple of folks have emailed wondering about my "obsession" lately with posting random vintage stuff. I guess I'd be making more Amazon Nickels if I just posted about New! Exciting! Must-Have! baby gear all day. Obviously, we're living in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 10, 2007
Form Magazine Archives: 50 Jahren Of Awesome KidMod Design
Ausgezeichnet! Ten minutes surfing through the 50 year-archive that Form, the Swiss-German design magazine, just put online, and already I feel like Homer Simpson at the candy convention. My raincoat's stuffed full, and instead of one, there are like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 8, 2007
Plush Sperm Produced By Hand
If you had gone to the Vinyl Toys Network Event in Pasadena last weekend, you could have gotten one of these "special release," made-by-hand jobs from Long Beach plush artist Shane Geil. Apparently, it was a happy ending for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Aston Martin Junior V8 Volante
I've had this open on my desktop for days now, not posting it, but I guess I'd better put it up here, just in case you're the knucklehead who's going to buy it. "It" is a 1989 Aston Martin...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 7, 2007
Holy Buckminster Fuller! Dad Makes Playdome At Home
OK, I am officially in awe. DT reader AJ just sent photos of the freakin' geodesic dome he just built for his 2-year-old daughter. Here are his simple tips for cranking out your very own dome in no time:...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 2, 2007
Are Toys From Y2K Really Vintage? Gus Gutz, Harry Hairball By Rumpus
Rediscovering the forgotten kid-related awesomeness of the past is a favorite pasttime here on Daddy Types. But waxing nostalgic about a long-lost toy collection from 1999 makes me uneasy, like we're veering too close to VH1 territory. And yet, there's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Never Saw A Purple Creative Playthings Hobby Horse
Very interesting. Gloria Caranica may beg to differ, but I'm not really minding the vintage mod on this Creative Playthings "Rocking Beauty" hobby horse. True, it doesn't have the elegance of the original natural wood and bright red ball...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 1, 2007
David Horvath Writes Book! Reads Daddy Types!! Enters Demo!!!
OK, last things first: Ugly Dolls is now being moved to the Parent Company category with the news that David Horvath and Sun Min Kim are expecting a baby girl, apparently just in time to muck up their schedule for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 30, 2007
The Concrete Jungle: Toy-On-Street Art By Alexis Lloyd
Though she's not the one who gutted the praying plush Christian sheep [nice segue, right?], Parsons grad student Alexis Lloyd was in the school's awesome electronic toy hacking class last fall. But today it's her final project, titled "The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
By Their Customized Recordings Ye Shall Know Them: Joyful Joe, The Bible-Quoting Plush Hippo
I confess, Joyful Joe has led me into temptation. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. If Joyful Joe, the plush hippo named after one of the fruits of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22] had been hardwired to recite...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Gnagno And The Organs: Plush Rip-Outtable Guts Included
If the kid's old enough to handle the name of the flower in the last post [bleeding heart, thanks dt reader christine -ed.], she's old enough to play with a plush toy that allows you to rip out its...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Shape Sorting Toy Now Available In Non-Pre-Chewed Version
So you love everything about a cool, vintage Finnish-designed toy like the classic Creative Playthings Shape Sorting Box except the idea of your kid gnawing on something that's coated with 35 years of slobber and/or basement dust. Well you're...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Chemobil
Why, viva my Revolucion, it's Playmobil Che! Look on the wall of Richard Unglik's photograph of a typical 1969 living room from his book, La grande aventure de l'Histoire avec Playmobil. Acros from the Playmobil Warhol, next to the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Welcome To The Desert Of The Playmobil
You know, I was wondering: What if you, me, this whole planet, the solar system, were just like dust under the fingernail of a giant? Or what if, you know, all of human civilization is not our own, but...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 27, 2007
Say Hello To Mike Kelley's Little Friend
Deodorized Central Mass with Satellites, 1991-9, via LA-based artist Mike Kelley has been selling plush toys for a long time. The only problem, at least from a kidsplay standpoint, is that he uses them as elements in his sculptures...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 25, 2007
Welcome To The [Cardboard Geodesic] Playdome, Under Construction
You wanna know the difference between our hippies and the hippies in the 70's? They both lived in lofts on the Lower East Side; they both went on about the environment, and they both built geodesic domes out of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
NASA Scientists Discover Thumbless Latex Glove Balloon Creature
Last week was Honey, Take The Kid To Your Office Day, and when they went to visit a colleague's lab at NASA, he made the kid a couple of latex glove balloons. You'd have thought he said the earth moves...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 24, 2007
Not Just ANY Plush Ultraman Doll. Plush Ultraman Pattern Doll
Sure, they're awesome, you say, but what exactly are the colors of these plush Ultraman dolls trying to tell us? The official story from Japanese toy manufacturer MegaHouse is that the Pattern Doll Series are made this way to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Bitz Pixelated Palz: 8-Bit Alien Plush Toys [What, Not Toyz?]
Is that a joystick in your hand, or are you just happy to see these awesome 8-bit monster-lookin' plush toys? Artists Amy & Jude Buffum made each of the eight creatures in their Bitz Pixelated Palz Seriez [ok, I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Kidsmodern: Nume Remodels Cardboard Playhouse For Milano
Italian kid furniture manufacturer Nume hit it big with their US distribution deal with DWR. But DWR seemed to wildly overestimate the popularity of Nume's most affordable design, a blank white cardboard playhouse which was ready and waiting for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 23, 2007
Sweet Juniper - Mies Mashup
Holy smokes. Grace at Design*Sponge persuaded Dutch and Wood and Juniper to take pictures of their Detroit townhouse, which was designed by Mies van der Rohe. Though the photos say otherwise, Dutch claims, "We are not designers or artists....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Wow, Tau: Punch-Out Knock-Together Plywood Kids Toys
This is awesome. Tau is a line of children's toys which you--and your kid--assemble by popping the pieces out of a single sheet of CNC-routed, laminated birch plywood. Like the new, knock-together, Momoll doll house/fire house/kitchen toys, putting them...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Fluffizoo: More Foam Animals
This week in Elephants In The Kid Design News: German furniture manufacturer Elmar Flototto [seriously] released Fluffizoo, a series of giant animal toy/furniture made out of safety-coated foam. [Mocoloco says it's been toddler bite-tested.] There's aslo a mouse, a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 20, 2007
Vintage Mr. T Cabbage Patch-y Dolls
From now on, I pity the fool who tries to tell me pop craftiness is a 21st century trend. In 1984, "Miss Martha Originals, through a license with Big T Enterprises, (Mr. T’s licensing company) created a pattern book,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 17, 2007
Vinyl Toy Competition Finalists Snatch Plausibility Away From Grup Deniers
Yeah, so about how contrived that whole grup thing about people persisting in some state of suspended adolesence? Where they wear the same clothes as their kids? And uptalk all the time? Turns out I neglected to check with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
What Else Could You Build With A Bunch Of Refrigerator Boxes And Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets?
Mr. McGroovy is dad and an art teacher-turned-entrepreneur, the success of who's main product, Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets, is almost entirely dependent on getting more parents to make more play-related structures for their kids out of large cardboard boxes. On...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 16, 2007
UNKL To Release UniPo Versions Of Wilco At Comic-Con
Everything that I just wrote about the Eames Bearbrick? Frying pan, fire. Iceberg, tip. Uma, Oprah. According to Core77, UNKL is creating a UniPo doll version of the band Wilco, which whill drop at Comic-Con in July. If anyone...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Eames Bearbrick Colabo: And Yet Somehow, Universe Remains Unannihilated
You don't read much about Be@rbrick on the Daddy Types. Or Munny, either, for that matter. Whatever charges of ex-post-facto gruppiness might be laid against me, I still think the site is for dads first, parents second, and perpetual...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Tiny bObles Make Me Warm All Over
bObles is Danish children's gear company founded by two sisters with an interest in spurring children's motor skills development and, judging by the picture below, at least, in teasing US product liability lawyers with their model's demonstrations of actual...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 15, 2007
Whoa, Kid! Get Off That Eames Plywood Elephant! It Cost A Thousand Euros!
In his exhibition at MoMA titled, I believe, "My New Plywood Molding Technique Is Unstoppable!" Charles Eames included what was to become the world's most collectible leg brace, the first of what came to be called the Potato Chip...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 12, 2007
Kohoutek: The Dollhouse Of The Future, By Ant Farm
One of the first of [way too] many [I'm sure] warnings I started giving the kid, even before her vision focused more than 3 feet away, was, "Plastic bags, not a toy." Which is funny, because in the late...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 11, 2007
DeWalt - Radio Flyer Trike Mashup
Good thing all the crazy DIY dad projects came to an end in 1962. Nowadays, folks do completely safe and wise things like using bungee cords to strap a DeWalt-powered saw motor onto their kid's Radio Flyer Tiny Trike....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Dutch Mobile Home Now In New Amsterdam, Too
Great minds, etc., etc., The Mobile Home, that sweet, corrugated cardboard, totally totable dollhouse by the Dutch firm Kidsonroof that we wrote about a few months back is now for sale at DT advertiser Sparkability. 35 clams. They also...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 9, 2007
Salvor-Palooza At Cool Hunting, Kiosk, &c.
Cool Hunting just posted a video visit to the studio of Salvor designer Ross Menuez. Turns out the company's named after his daughter and muse [well, her middle name, anyway. It's Icelandic.] When it came out a couple of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 7, 2007
M Is For Mookie: Sesame Street - Do The Right Thing Mashup
This hilarious mashup of Do The Right Thing using Sesame Street Little People from Fisher-Price is by filmmaker-bartender-madman-Canadian Brent Pike-Nurse [damn, I'm gonna run out of hyphens on the first line] and his comedic crew. In case you can't...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 6, 2007
Holy Cow, Bozart Kaleidoscope Dollhouse, Still In The Box
Even though I was never a diehard fan of Bozart's Kaleidoscope House, it always felt like the one that got away. I knew one of the investors behind Bozart from Philadelphia. A bunch of art world people I knew...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 5, 2007
Rhymes With Scissorhands: Philippe Starck Teddy Bear Band
In 2005, Philippe Starck created a 1,000-piece limited-edition teddy bear for Moulin Roty, the French soft toy manufaturer. Called "Teddy Bear Band," the bear had a forest creatures' heads where 3/4 of its limbs should be. Creepy? No, it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 2, 2007
Do Hipsters Ream Praying Electric Sheep?
Why, yes, yes they do. I'd forgotten how much I liked the class blog for Parsons' The Art And Craft Of Toy Design until I stumbled across this post where a secular humanist student brings Eternal Condemnation down on her...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome ABC's Made From Mutilated Toy Soldiers
DC artist Oliver Munday made this sweet-looking alphabet from plastic toy soldiers. I'd go into details about how he did it, but everyone who isn't suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is under a gag order at Walter Reed. Fire...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 28, 2007
Sweet Creative Playthings Slot-Together Ply Noah's Ark
In their heyday, Creative Playthings had a lot of wonderful toys of their own design, but they also distributed products from around the world. Those classic wood trucks were from some dude in Finland, for example. And this awesome,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 27, 2007
Dollhouse Hot Tub & Weight Set By Ryan's Room
What is Ryan's Room, and why would I want my kid playing cocktails in the hot tub with dolls that have removable swim suits? Considering that they also have something as random as a dollhouse weight set--free weights only,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
My Silly Pony: Honestly, Hermes, I Expected More From You
I just stumbled across this photo from around Christmas, when we went into Aix-en-Provence for the market. We got separated in the antiques section, and so the kid and I chose the most obvious rallying point--the Hermes store--and started...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Bad American Girl Place
I didn't know what American Girl Place is before the kid was born, and she has no idea what it is now. It's a freaky, doll-centered, corporate-driven cult, a Club Libby Lu for Stepford Children, whose parents' only claim to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 23, 2007
Maoma: Plush-Meets-Finnegan's Wake. In Holland
Sure, I'd like to wean my kid from Dora with some cool indie plush, you say, but what's the diff? The backstories of American indie toys are usually about as deep and complex as a Chinese zodiac placemat. ["Wage...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 22, 2007
Wear Bears: Bear Daddy & Son Dolls From MoMA Store
Apparently, cubwearing doesn't cause this foot-tall, crocheted daddy bear doll any bearboob trouble at all. As for taking a whizz, I imagine he does that in the woods, too. But I can't find any reference to the credited designer,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Plush Squid Is Bigger Than All Y'all
As we learned with giant Ugly Dolls, the line between plush toy and plush furniture is somewhere around six feet. And as this giant squid shows us, the line between plush furniture and total plush domination is about 15...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 21, 2007
Beck Sketchel Diaper Bag, Beck Stickers, Beck Beck Beck Beck Beck
Beck loves the artists to do his album covers. He collaborated with a friend, Jeremy Blake, on a previous album, and on his latest release, The Information, he and twenty graphic/street/sticker artists from around the world put together various...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 20, 2007
Yes, Bears Were Harmed In The Making Of These Photographs
Brooklyn artist [redundant, I know] Kent Rogowski flayed some helpless teddy bears, turned them inside out, and then restuffed them, sending his creations back out into the world as hideous, mutilated mutants. But not before photographing them and binding...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Boy, Does The Kid Love Her Magna-Tiles
I've been meaning to write about Magna-Tiles sooner, but frankly, we've been too busy playing with Magna-Tiles. She's playing with them right now. The kid had a playdate a few weeks back, and the other kid had a 32-piece...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 16, 2007
Don't Be Fooled By Baby Gloomy Bear's Cuteness
The whole point of Gloomy Bear is that he grows up to maul and eat humans. The fact that he's cute as a baby is just a way of getting your kid to let his guard down, then one...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 15, 2007
Muji Music Box Mashup
So literally, as I'm reading about how a congressman from Pittsburgh cited the artistic value of mashups, DJ Drama's mixtapes, and Girl Talk's sampling, it turns out the kid has wound up both her Muji music boxes at once,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Rainbow Twirler Hanging [sic] Toy
It was great in the Sixties, man, all flowers and rainbows. Running naked in the grass, little babies cooing and playing with their feet. And then The Man came along in 1973 and started laying a lot of white...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 14, 2007
An Elephant Never Forgets, Either
The kid's been freaking us out lately with her vise-like memory. On the way to Bubble with me Sunday morning, she asked if the lady with the white balloons was going to be there, because she wanted another white...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 13, 2007
Berlin Hipsters Transform Playground Equipment Into Musical Instruments
For his thesis project at the University of the Arts in Berlin, Richard The created Playful Parasites, a set of Bluetooth-enabled sensors that transform traditional playground equipment--slides, swings, climbing toys, bouncy ride-ons--into an data-transmitting interface:The system is designed to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet Vintage Muji Elephant Puzzle
It's taking me a while to get my photos of my phone, but as soon as I do, I'll post them here. These freaky cute, little wooden elephants were part of the display in NonChalant Mom's booth at Bubble...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Chigo In Da Dollhouse!
Between Play Mountain, Landscape Products, and Chigo, Shinichiro Nakahara has created something of a refined, humanistic modernist design archipelago of ventures across Tokyo. The company has done exhibits of mid-century modern designers; their stores mix original and exclusive furniture...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 12, 2007
Crafty Miracleworkers Transform Busted Entertainment Center, 10 Lbs. Cottage Cheese, Into Mod Toy Kitchen
Instead of dumping their busted, old entertainment center, a fine Craftserwoman and her hubby [...] transformed it into a play kitchen for about $40, not counting the cottage cheese:...We measured just below the rim of the bowl, cut a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Skuut: Suspiciously Like A LikeABike, But With Huge Balls
Knockoffs of the Like-A-Bike are nothing new. Remember, Kokua, the German manufacturer who invented it, got the idea of a pedal-free cruiser from the Draisienne, a nearly-200-year-old ancestor of the modern bicycle. And at a made-in-Germany premium price of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 11, 2007
The Crayon Car Can Draw Beautiful Rainbows On Your Floor
The kid and I spotted the Crayon Car by Alex Toys in the MoMA shop the other day. We were killing 20 minutes until the museum itself opened. It looked cute, she was stoked about it, and at four...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 9, 2007
Plush Robots From Argentina By Sopa de Principe
MoMA and the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires have a joint promotion going on right now that features contemporary designs and products from BA. We saw a bucket of these Plush Robots by Sopa de Principe...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 2, 2007
Skywalkers Art Blimp Parade Phollow-up
I don't need anything! All I need is this modded Scion. And this art blimp parade. This Scion, and this art blimip parade. And this Bugaboo. This Scion, this art blimp parade, this Bugaboo, And a week at the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 1, 2007
Mister Burnett's Neighborwood
Forget the design implications for a moment; one of the things that blows me away about the designer toy phenomenon is the blanks business model, where instead of just putting out a character doll, you put out a blank,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 28, 2007
Quick, See Neo-Mickey Before His Lawyers Do
Come To Daddy, indeed. The DT jury may be out on the Disney plush toy sofas, but this sweet, little remixing of Mickey as a trance-happy space alien from the planet Murakami is AWESOME. Not clear what the impetus...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 27, 2007
Some Random Gear Links: Muji In America, Disney/Campana, Acrylic Cradle, &c.
Here are a few finds that have piled up in my to-link folder: First, two from The Nursery at Apartment Therapy, a blog that's very advanced for its age: You can get Muji's awesome Suburbia In A Bag in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Swiss-Made Antonio Vitali Dollhouse Will Warm You Up Inside
Before he started making organically shaped, abstract dolls for Creative Playthings in the late 50's, Antonio Vitali was making hardwood dollhouses for abstract dolls, which were sold in the Swiss National Crafts Store. Too bad the dolls and the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 26, 2007
Ten Plagues Of Egypt Finger Puppets
When it rains, it pours. And pours frogs to boot. One of the kid's first toys was a set of Hindu deity finger puppets, which we threw into the diaper bag to keep her quiet at church. [Nothing like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 25, 2007
Nice Grouping: Block Puzzles From Creative Playthings And Naef
Great minds thought alike back then, I guess. Both Naef and Creative Playthings made square puzzles cut into strips. Turn them over, and there's a different animal on each of the four faces of--you know, why is it so...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Terrorism Finger Puppets Have Already Won.
Who cares if it's only February, if the awesome crochet artisti at Il Golfini della Nonna had just called these Axis Of Evil Finger Puppets, I would have annointed them the Daddy Types Toy Of The Year. Or maybe...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 23, 2007
Karim Rashid Kozmos Blocks Also Rarer Than You Think
Me, I don't think about them too much. I'm not a huge fan of Karim Rashid, mostly because of the hype-y celebrity design thing. ["Karimanifesto"? I rest my case.] We have and love us some O-Chairs, don't get me...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Yoshitomo Nara Plush Doll Rarer Than You Think
I know there are some pull toys out there, but I'm still surprised that Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara's malevolent-looking little kids or sleepy-eyed puppies haven't made it onto actual kid-sized t-shirts or Onesies yet. Still, when I was trying...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 22, 2007
Personally, I Blame Monocle For The Sudden Rash Of Prince Pickles Coverage
So the week after Wallpaper*-founder Tyler Brule's new magazine, Monocle runs a 17-page cover story about the Japan Self-Defense Force, the International Herald Tribune has a story about the JSDF's deployment of Prince Pickle, their anime character mascot, to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome Felt Rocks By Molo Design
More Toys From The Glorious Future. This time, it's Felt Rocks:In their raw form, they are lumps of felt formed as a by-product in the industrial process of making felt polishing wheels for optical lenses...In the felting process, with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 21, 2007
Forget The iPod, Bring On More Nylon Mesh Teddy Bears
As far as the iPod player and light show goes, I think this iPulse Bear from Sharper Image is a bit overkill. Obviously not as ridiculous as the toilet paper dispenser/iPod speaker combmo, but it's in the same quartile....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 19, 2007
Wha Wha Wha?? 6-Foot Ugly Dolls
I've seen these in convention booths and even at store, but I just assumed they were display/fixtures, kind of like the 8' Stokke Tripp Trapp we saw in Iceland. But no, you can buy six-foot tall Ugly Dolls of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Little Bony By David Horvath
This just in from the Show You Can't See and Stuff You Can't Buy Department: In a long interview with Crown Dozen in 2005 about the explosion of the Ugly Dolls phenomenon [which is only continuing, of course. There were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Unfortunately, Brio Never Heard What Happened In North Haverbrook
You know, a wooden train company with a monorail is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No-one knows why they made it and danged if he knows where to get it! Actually, they made it in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 16, 2007
It's An eBay Morning: Sweet Creative Playthings House, Furn.
This sweet Creative Playthings doll house has a bit of play wear on the edges--and, uh, it's missing the bottom floor--but the only thing bad I can say about all the furniture is that the doll family appears to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 14, 2007
Leggo My Lego!
The kid doesn't know what a Lego is, but, thanks to Kellogg's™ Lego® Fruit Flavored Snacks, she can learn a valuable lesson: Legos are for putting in your mouth! Also, they're an important source of vitamin C, almost as...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Whoa, Kid-Sized Tetris
First off, that Play+Soft series of Reggio Emilia-inspired playroom furniture posted here a couple of weeks ago? Tip of the iceberg. Their catalogue is full of incredible, fun-looking, and well-thought-out designs. [It's for sale here for $22.] Play+Soft was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 13, 2007
"Fun On Wheels" By Stephan Gip: Furniture In Disguise
This might just be cool enough to make up for the high chair. Swedish architect Stephan Gip is credited with the 1962 design for the all-wood, no-tray, trapezoidal stacking high chair that we wipe off a little every day...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 12, 2007
The Wood Bead Game: Octopus By Gonzalo Arbutti At MoMA
MoMA's Design Store recently launched a special, limited-time collection of objects from up-and-coming designers in Argentina. The collection, dubbed Destination: Buenos Aires, includes at least one of the sweet-looking wooden toy designs by Gonzalo Arbutti's company, Laboratori. With inspirations...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 10, 2007
Insane Clown Posse Rides The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle
There used to be a macrobiotic clown who'd panhandle on the 1/9 train. He was tall, with a cursory bit of make-up and a weathered clown suit on; normal shoes, though. And he had a weird, kind of weary, high-pitched,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 9, 2007
Isamu Noguchi Slide Mantra Sculptures
Reading through the timeline of sculptor Isamu Noguchi's projects is like a smack on the back of the head; there are so many playgrounds that never made it out of the maquette stage. They range back over fifty years...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 8, 2007
Apartment Therapy: Now For The Nursery
Apartment Therapy, the site for people with neurotic apartments whose apartments just have a few issues just like what they like, you gotta problem with that? The door's right over there, the chartreuse one--I know, but we thought it might...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 7, 2007
Burglar: Please Use Boon Animal Bags
So you've just stuffed your money into one of the kid's plush toys for safekeeping. If you'd now kindly stuff all the animals into one of these Boon Animal Bags, the burglar won't have to slice open all the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome Felt Book By Esther Schuivens
Esther Schuivens was one of the actual designers tapped by Habitat for their first VIP For Kids collection last winter. Her company Esthex made a crafty little Eskimo [1] doll, since replaced by Harry Potter's couch or something. This...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 6, 2007
Que Lindo! Bunnies From Portugal By Rosa Pomar
So I see these flower-eyed bunnies staring up off the sidebar of design*sponge, and I'm like, "Damn, what? Do I know you? Have I seen you bunnies before? You're from freakin' Portugal!" And it's kind of scaring me, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Springbuck Riding Toy
The kid's got a rocking chicken from Playsam, so if anyone's ever gonna mouth off about a rocking springbuck, it won't be me. Joom is a new South African design firm whose first product was a life-sized, cow-shaped bookcase....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Chinese Character Plush Toys By Studio Ditte
I've been to Utrecht. Struck me as kind of a sleepy, lace-curtains-in-the-window kind of town. But it does have an edgy design streak in it somewhere, I guess. Studio Ditte is a design agency in Utrecht that created a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 5, 2007
Troglodytes And Manuellas: Squishy Soft Toys
It's been literally several minutes since we've seen some hipsterish plush toys around here, sorry for dropping the ball. Troglodytes are created by artist Jill Penney out of fleece; they have hand painted horns and sculpey eyes. Perfect for the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 4, 2007
The Wooden Citroen 2CV: So Close And Yet...
The first car I ever bought was a Citroen 2CV. It's sitting with a restorer in Holland right now [I think... note to self: check on car], waiting for the opportune moment to ship it over to the US....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Prouve-lookin' Doll House Chairs From US [Via Japan]
Landscape Products is a sweet modern design shop in Tokyo; it's affiliated with one of the most incredible-looking kid stores there, too, a place near Ebisu & Hiro-o called Chigo. [The Tokyo ex-pat grandparents got the kid a gorgeous...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 2, 2007
Hey, My Kid Could Do That
The kid and the wife built MoMA this morning out of blocks. As she gave us the tour, she pointed out that it has a tower, an atrium, some sculptures, and a garden--with trees and a bridge. And some...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
21st Century Family Modernism By Richard Hutten
Well this is five kinds of cool right here. Designer Richard Hutten gave Dutch TV station KRO a tour of his house in Rotterdam, where he lives with his two sons. The creator of such kid-friendly classics as the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 31, 2007
Gellibaff: Red Gum! Red Gum! Red Gum!
Looks like we need a WTF??? category around here. Gellibaff is a packet of crystals that turns your kid's bathwater into brightly colored, gelatinous goo. To get rid of it, you just dump in the second packet of crystals,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
WTF: Park Slope Dad Cheaps Out, Buys Graco Toy Stroller
From the Park Slope Parents listserv, The case of the missing toy strollers:When she lost his other toy stroller, we didn't charge her for it, but this one is just really all the more aggravating because of the prior history...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Play Plus Soft: A Playroom With A View
Wow. I've never felt too bad for not giving the kid her own 2,000 square feet to run and play in. Until now. StudioUK has launched Play+Soft [you pronounce the '+'], a 200+piece series of early childhood learning objects...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 29, 2007
Ouch. Target LikeASteamrollers LikeABike
A couple of folks have sent in sightings over the last couple of weeks, but it's not online, and I never go to these kinds of stores myself...unless it's to check out ruthless, fire-at-will Targetting. After all, it was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Oughta Give You A Peg Sandwich
This Creative Playthings Peg Sandwich is about 3-in high, meaning those pegs would probably pass through a paper towel tube, no problem. [That's the rule of thumb that stuck with me about choking hazards during the child safety prenatal...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
You Could Put All The King's Men Back Together Again
Good morning, sweet, vintage, wooden, toy soldiers from Creative Playthings circa 1969. CREATIVE PLAYTHINGS THE KINGS GUARD WOOD SOLDIERS 1969, ends Feb. 4 [ebay]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 28, 2007
Cuusoo Seikatsu's Customer-Driven Design [For Kids]
Look, I just came back from the International Gift Fair at the Javits Center, so I think I know a thing or two about utterly useless crap for sale. Right now, the idea behind Cuusoo Seikatsu ["Imagination Life"] sounds pretty...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 25, 2007
A Fine Addition To Any Modern Toys Collection
An eBay seller named mix-mod has listed a collection of colorful, vintage modern toys—four lots of work vehicles, including a fuel tanker, dump truck, cement mixer and a matched pair of [oil-barrel hauling?] tractors. In the spirit of Ladislav...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 23, 2007
Overinflated Designer Makes Inflatable Plane For Habitat VIP For Kids
Before you say it, I will: Yes, I am slightly jealous of the Miura, but no more so than any other Miura before it. But ever since the Paramount opened with his silly, useless blobject lounge chair in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Cool/Weird Crawlie Crab Pulltoy & Stuff From Creative Playthings
There was a lull right after Christmas, but an eBay seller named imspes just posted a little collection of vintage Creative Playthings toys in really nice, boxed, apparently unplayed condition. There's a nice townhouse/dollhouse [in chipboard, not, alas, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 22, 2007
The Balloon Of The Immaculate Inflation
Our little Grasshopper has been learning about the transient nature of existence and the importance of non-attachment to material things from balloons. They're fun. We love getting them. We love playing with them. If it's from the haircut place, the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2007
The 100-Year, 5-Min. History Of US/NY Playgrounds
I know it was a big deal when it was leaked/announced a couple of weeks ago, but the NYT's article about a proposal for the Burling Slip Playground near the South Street Seaport kind of slipped off my radar....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 19, 2007
Whoa. Sweet Vintage Riding Toys You I Didn't Get
You know what I said about rethinking my dewy-eyed fixation with mid-century vintage toys and design? Yeah well, forget it. If only I'd been a little faster, my kid could've been riding into the glorious future on one of these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rare Play Sculptures Catalogue, Blueprint For Postwar Suburban Utopia [sic], On eBay
I haven't decided if I'm going to bid on it yet, but with a starting bid of $45, I guess there's no use worrying if it'll end up being expensive. This is the first copy of the 1957 catalogue...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 17, 2007
Habitat VIP For Kids By Kinda Random VIPs
Marcel Wanders, Paco Rabanne, Kate Winslet, Buzz Aldrin, Miss Piggy, Loïck Peyron... I would have loved to be in the room when Habitat finalized the list of celebrity designers who would be invited to create their new VIP For Kids...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 15, 2007
Rubber Duckie, You're The One
Still not quite sure what it was about, but with a giant rubber duck looming on the cover, there's no way I wasn't reading "Moby Duck: On the Synthetic Wilderness of Childhood," Donovan Hohn's 150,000-word [+/-] article in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 11, 2007
Muji-pped
I guess I could be pissed that half the toys--and basically all the multi-piece toys--in our Muji "Outer Space in a Bag" bag broke, several within minutes of taking them out of the bag. But when you look at...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 10, 2007
PeeWee Was A Grup: Baby Boomer Talk Design For Children, c.1994
Funny, I don't remember 1994 looking like the zany cruft on an Exersaucer. And I don't recall Post-Modernism retaining even half that credibility as long as it does in Steven Heller and Steven Guarnaccia's book, Designing For Children [first mentioned...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rubber Baby Cribby Bumpers By Creative Playthings
Literally, the first phrase I wanted imprinted in my kid's brain from birth was "plastic bags not a toy." I don't think this is a result of my own traumatic childhood memories, since my parents did not--to my knowledge--install Creative...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 9, 2007
Pick Up Walker/Scooter/Carrier Thing By Alfredo Haeberli
Yeah, I should really give the first part of that exchange between Nico Schweizer and Alfredo Haeberli:N.S. Your works have high production values, but at a price. Kids' Stuff, a 10-piece place setting for children, sells in the States for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Yawaraka Sensha Teaches Futility, Cuteness Of War
Translated variably as The Fragile Tank or The Soft Tank, Yawaraka Sensha is a Japanese Flash animated series on Livedoor, a big Japanese site run by a guy who thinks he's Mark Cuban. A bunch of cute little tanks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 8, 2007
My Little Cthulhu Vinyl Doll
Every once in a while, I worry about getting totally busted by nerds, who'll realize I'm actually cool, and all along, I've just been pretending, walking around with a fake nerd ID in my wallet. This usually happens when...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
A Is For Ant. B Is For Blocks. C Is For Colette-esque
The pattern on these sweet Ant Blocks reminds me of the first collection of vinyl wall decals by Domestic, which were launched in late 2005 at Colette. Colette of Paris. Well, the fact that they're only $27 should be...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 7, 2007
Awesome Lo-Res Doll House By Kidsonroof
Critics of the extravagant toys always say a kid can have as much fun with a cardboard box. Now you can split the difference with this, the MobileHome, by the new Danish Dutch [1] firm Kidsonroof. This incredible-looking toy...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 6, 2007
Please, Sir, Can I Have Some Momoll?
Andy emailed this a few days ago, and it is absolutely the most insanely awesome toy/furniture I have seen all year. Momoll is the creation of Nico Schweizer, a dad who was previously design director for I.D. [not i.D.]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 5, 2007
Babies R USA! USA! USA!
Check out the awesome brain trust running this Toys R Us/Babies R Us promotion, which offered a $25,000 savings bond to the first American baby born in 2007. Contest administrators chose new New Yorker Yuki Lin in a random...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 4, 2007
Eames Solar Toy Does Nothing, And Very Well
While researching Richard McGuire's The Solar Toy, I stumbled across The Solar Do-Nothing Machine by Ray and Charles Eames. They created it in the late 1950's for Alcoa, who was just launching a Forecast Collection, a series of artist-...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 2, 2007
Arts & Crafts Auction To Benefit The James Kim Memorial Fund
Over 40 artists, designers and artisans from around the world have donated their works to an auction to benefit the James Kim Memorial Fund. Bidding begins tomorrow [Jan. 3rd] on eBay, and will continue through Jan. 7th. 100% of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Smell A Conspiracy
Whoa, it's only Jan. 2, and already, I've uncovered the coverup of the year. Lane Smith, the guy who illustrated the classic with John Scieszka, The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales. The kid's had The Stinky Cheese...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
That's Odd
The kid's had hot air balloons on the brain lately. Penguins are birds, but they don't fly? "Well they can fly in a hot air balloon." Tomorrow we're going to Hong Kong. "On a hot air balloon." &c., &c....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 1, 2007
Well, FU2! Bratz Babyz??
No, MGA Entertainment, having it say "F--- You" does NOT make the toddler versions [!??] of your oversexualized, trampslutBratz dolls suddenly edgy and/or cool. They're still lame as hell, and they're never coming near my daughter. That said, there's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 31, 2006
Princess Industrial Complex Drives Feminist Crazy
Too bad for Peggy Orenstein that her looong lament about third-wave feminism's powerlessness and lack of viable response in the face of the Princess Hegemony came out the same day American girls were opening their $3 billion worth of pink...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 29, 2006
All The World's A Playmobil, And We Are Merely Playmobilers
The kid only had one request of Santa this Christmas, but it was highly specific. And challenging: "A digger, and rocks, and sand." The digger would be easy enough, I thought. Even though I got priced out of that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Toys Of Artist Richard McGuire: A DT Interview
How does awesome work from less than ten years ago disappear from the parenting culture? Granted, ten years is like five toddler generations ago, and I'll be the first to admit my baby trend radar was completely non-existent until just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Crazy Horses: DWR Slashes Prices On Rocking Beauty Knock-offs
There may be some justice left in the world. First, DWR knocked off a widely published design classic from the 1950's long attributed to Phillip Johnson, by trying to pass it off as an anonymous piece of modern folk...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 20, 2006
Tickle Me Emo
They make TV with the comedians they have, not the comedians we want. Of the few I've seen all the way through, Mad TV's gags seem about 10% funny [i.e., they go on 10x too long]. Tickle Me Emo...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 18, 2006
The Crocheted World Of Golfini Della Nonna
At the Bubble New York trade show last summer, the amazing crocheted creations of Golfini della Nonna filled a happy booth, but by the time we got around to that side, the kid was ready for a nap, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hexi-Hollow Better, Not Better Named Than Hexagon Happening Hollow
The Children's Factory is a grandparent-run company in Missouri that's been making brightly colored vinyl-covered foam furniture for the kids institutional market [i.e. daycare centers, schools, libraries] since 1982, back when gas was like 75 cents/gallon. Putting one of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 17, 2006
Have You Seen Me? My Name Is The PlayAll
This was one of the coolest toys we had growing up, and I can't find out a single thing about it. It was called a Playall [Play All? Play-All? PlayAll?], which, in this CD and MP3 era, turns out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 14, 2006
Kyoto Claw Game Big Enough To Swallow Three Toddlers
Things really are different over there. For example, we saw these claw plush toy machines in the covered shopping arcade area of Kyoto. The prize door is so freakin' big, you could fit a whole Chuck E. Cheeseful of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Norwegian Wood: Nice Toys By Olav Øen
These wooden toys by Norwegian designer Olav Øen have a happy Scandinavian vibe: a little Bojesen in that bear, a little PlaySam in that car, a little IKEA in those stacky things, a little superbright color to compensate for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 13, 2006
Ausgezeichnet! Cool Wooden Toys From Behind The Iron Curtain
While our parents were ducking and covering in the US, singing the praises of Howdy freakin' Doody to ward off the evils of communism, in East Germany at least, those same commie bastards were cranking out some mighty fine-looking...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 11, 2006
Crawligator-ing Is Not A Crime!
This vintage Creative Playthings toy a tummy skateboard for babies, makes tummy time mobile. Not clear what the CPSC has to say about this thing in our newly enlightened era, but this particular Crawligator is certainly in exquisite condition....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 10, 2006
Antonio Vitali: Spielzeugdesigner
Swiss eBayer a.r. has just listed this very early and beautiful set of hand-carved wooden figures, dollhouse and furniture by Antonio Vitali. According to a.r., these were sold at the Swiss National Crafts Store (!) in the 1940s and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 9, 2006
PlaySam Streambox
Though we obviously bought them for us--because they're the kind of slick, beautiful toy you don't mind lying around the house--the kid loves her PlaySam Streamliner cars. She races them around against each other. Once she was old enough, we...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 8, 2006
Scary Russian Playgrounds
Surreal, inventive, kind of handmade, unacquainted with the details of corporate intellectual property licensing or liability insurance, these playgrounds represent the best aspects of the Russian children's spirit. And even though the scale model of the Kremlin has more...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 7, 2006
Style And Substance Duke It Out With Bulloni Musical Tree
Yeah, let me think about that Bornelund stuff again. When you drop a marble down the gradated color disc-leaves on this eye-popping wooden tree by Swiss toymaker Mario Bulloni [whose company just went out of business, as far as I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Build A Landscape: Damn, Jegro! That's All You Had To Play!
If you can find your way to a Bornelund toy store in Japan, you'd better be prepared for some of the highest concentration of top-in-class toys from all over the world. [Or at least from Japan and Europe. In....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 6, 2006
Vintage Toy Wooden Baby Carriage Kay Bojesen Denmark
Two weeks ago this sweet, little stroller designed by Kay Bojesen sold on eBay for $355 plus shipping. Forty-two years ago, you could get one in mint condition directly from Creative Playthings for $3.25. A 1964-65 catalog lists 11...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 5, 2006
BorneLund Fantasia Series: Beautiful Birch Laminate Pulltoys
BorneLund, the way-serious-about-fun toy store in Japan has been discussed here before, primarily as a rally point of the world's high-end wooden toy designs. But they've also commissioned some incredible toys of their own, like that 8-layer apple puzzle...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Iiwi: Japan's Most Incredible Baby & Dog Store
It's exactly the kind of serendipitous experience you hope for on a trip: you stumble across an utterly unique, mindblowing store that's obviously the product of passionate, discerning and very entertaining people. The kid and I were on our...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 4, 2006
Low-Tech Toys Cause Kids To Drop Out Of Harvard
Nancy Carlsson-Paige and her fellow early childhood development professor Diane Levin say parents should avoid electronic toys, especially for very young children, because they deny kids important lessons in human communication. Levin has even co-founded an elaborately acronymed organization, Teachers...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 30, 2006
Le Corbusiesque Doll Toy Houses
There haven't been a lot of breakout modernist dollhouses since the Miesian Villa Sibi came out a couple of years ago from awesome wood toy maker Sirch. [Damn, that thing photographed well!] But now, just in time for the holidays,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 29, 2006
Sweet Kay Bojesen & The Butterscotch Rocking Horse
Known to design-y parents as the father of that teak monkey, and to the rest of the world as a modernist master Danish silversmith, Kay Bojesen also made a gorgeous, pared down rocking horse in 1951. Rosendahl reissued it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Pink: We Fought The Hegemony, And The Hegemony Won
The answer: far less than 2.5 years. The question: how long before your soul is crushed and your kid's soul is stolen by the whole pink-blue steamroller? Don't get me wrong, I still think it's worth resisting, and truth...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 28, 2006
Muji's "In-a-Bag" Toys Slip The Surly Bonds Of Earth
This Outer-Space-in-a-Bag toy set is small (i.e., palm-sized), but awesome. As soon as I spotted these on Muji's Christmas site, I knew they were going straight into the kid's stocking. [They're made of sustainably harvested hardwoods.] And just now,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 25, 2006
Molded Plywood Week Coming In For A Landing With The Creative Playthings Playtown Airfield
I know it's barely scratched the surface, so the last post of this ad hoc, Molded Plywood Week at DT will be a link-filled roundup of all the molded ply goods and gear that have already been on the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 24, 2006
Sweet, Sweet Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks
The things you run across in the middle of the night. The ever-cool font and design shop House Industries has partnered with the Alexander Girard estate to create an incredible set of alphabet blocks. The 28-block set features the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Acrobats, Diggers, & Farm Animals: Sweet, Minty Creative Playthings Toys On eBay
Whoa. If you're a fan of the Creative Playthings, but you don't dig your kid playing with pre-chewed toys, I suggest you introduce yourself to Clem 60637 in Chicago. He's an eBay seller who just put up five vintage CP...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Blocks + Molded Ply = Creative Playthings Arc Curves
Sometime in late 1966, Creative Playthings must've gotten itself a marketing guy, or maybe a lawyer guy, because all the toys that're called things like Thin Arch in the '66 catalogue are called things like Arc-Curves TM in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 23, 2006
I'm Thankful For Modernseed's BroSis Lounge Chair
I'm happy to outsource today's installment of Molded Plywood Week to the NY Times, since their slideshow of kid's gifts conveniently includes designs on my list as well. Eric Pfeiffer's been on a molded ply streak this year, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 22, 2006
Molded Plywood Cradle By Creative Playthings Totally Rocks
By the next year, 1967, Creative Playthings had changed the copy on their molded plywood crib and stroller to be more gender neutral. But a cradle this awesomely minimalist would rock [umm] for either a boy or a girl,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 21, 2006
Marines Take Free Jesus Dolls, Company Verily Gets Its Publicity Reward
The Lord works in mysterious ways, it's true. But religious toy manufacturers seeking a publicity angle at Christmastime? Not so mysterious. The Marine Reserve's originally turned down the Beverly Hills Teddy Bear Company's offer to render 4,000 free talking Jesus...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 20, 2006
I've Never Seen A Creative Playthings Plywood Carriage
The Hobby Horse is in a museum and gets knocked off nationwide, but this beautiful Creative Playthings plywood carriage disappears into oblivion, with barely two Google mentions to rub together? How is that? Wolfgang Sirch's bentwood doll stroller, I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 19, 2006
Muji Plywood Car
I'll get to this awesome Muji molded plywood ride-on car in a minute, which has to be the kick-off of Molded Ply Week at Daddy Types. Beyond Muji and some recent emails, I just got my hands on some...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 18, 2006
Most Awesome Muji Christmas Toys Only Available If You Have A Flying Sleigh
Ah, the holidays. It's been a while since we've agonized over the essentially unobtainable awesomeness of Muji products and toys, but with the release of their 2006 Christmas Catalogue, we can start anew. The toy selection includes some simple...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 15, 2006
Abstract Riding Animals Available In Foam [Soon], Plywood [Not So Soon]
Last month the Belgian foam furniture maker [?] Feek threw some of its coming-soon Animools into the kids' holding room at Interieur06, a big design trade show. They're abstract animal shapes made out of laminated foam that's suitable and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 14, 2006
Niiice. Pristine Creative Playthings Townhouse On eBay
This Creative Playthings Townhouse is in amazing, apparently unplayed-with condition, and it comes complete with seven molded plastic rooms of furniture. [Huh? Great way to get around the "124-piece set of choking hazards," but how creative can your play...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 13, 2006
Parappa Plush Toys Are Mostly Sold Out
Last winter, the kid got a pink cashmere acorn cap that my mom knitted for her. It's really plain, awesome, in fact, but the kid didn't quite take to it until very recently. The last few months, she's been...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 7, 2006
This Playdough Recipe Is Better Than My Mother's
I drew a line around the kid's preschool, blogcontent-wise, but I don't see any reason to keep their play dough recipe a secret. It was our turn to make the dough for class this week, and my wife cranked this...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Vintage Creative Playthings Wood Blocks Two Ways on eBay
Unlike with some of their more unusual toys or exceptional designs, you can find pretty sweet modern equivalents to the vintage, tabletop-scale, wood blocks from Creative Playthings. Still, if you're a purist, there are two fine-looking sets of these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Amazon Throws Out A Quick $100/$20 Offer For Toys&Games
Ah, back in the good old days [until Spring], Amazon used to run these sweet promotions on diapers, where a $50-70 order would score you a $20-30 gift certificate a few weeks down the road. Well, the diaper promos seem...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 6, 2006
Whoa. Inquarium, The In-Crib Aquarium, From Creative Playthings
Just when I think I'd gotten a handle on the whole Creative Playthings vintage toy thing, I get an email about this: The Creative Playthings Inquarium, The In-Crib Aquarium. Here's what the box says:The newest crib toy--a true departure...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 25, 2006
iXs Navirobo GPS Teddy Bear Looks Like He Got Capped
This GPS teddy bear waves its paws to tell you the direction to your destination. And when you miss a turn, it mocks you. And when it mocks someone with a handgun, he shoots it in the forehead. [Wait,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Nice Timing: Creative Playthings Puppets On eBay, Too
First, the puppet bad news: When I linked to that Creative Playthings Puppet Theater yesterday, I thought, wouldn't it be nice if there were some puppets, too? Unfortunately, the only famous, creepy, CP vinyl puppets at the moment were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 24, 2006
Buffy's Famous Pig: Mr. Gordo Plush Toy
How long does it take to complete a character licensing deal, you wonder? Let's see, Buffy The Vampire Slayer went off the air in 2003, and 2006 is almost over... Entertainment Earth is promising to bring out a limited...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings Puppet Theater On eBay Looks Like Laugh-in
Was it something in the air? Which came first? Because this psychedelic little Creative Playthings puppet theater, with walls full of little puppet openings, is dated 1968, the same year that Laugh-in, with its joke wall full of little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 23, 2006
Ren & Stimpy's Dad Blames Damn Hippies For Decline Of Western Toy Civilization
As the creator of the greatest crass animation since Beavis & Butthead, John Kricfalusi knows a thing or two about precipitating the decline of civilization. Since by his count, it happened sometime in the late Sixties or early Seventies,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 21, 2006
Hey Microsoft, LamerDad.com Is Still Available.
So for three+ years, GamerDad.com has been a leading independent, pioneering resource to help parents get involved with their kids' video gameplaying. Started by a tech journalist and at-home dad and edited by parents and gaming enthusiasts, it's a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 19, 2006
MoMA Design Store Is 20% Off For Members Through Oct. 22
It's apparently Fall Sale Madness on Daddy Types today. The MoMA Design Store usually offers museum members a 10% discount on all their purchases. But when the holidays draw near [even a little near], they have Member Shopping Days, both...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 18, 2006
Giant And/Or Tiny Hungry Caterpillars
No one in the Boardbook Industrial Complex needs less publicity than Eric Carle [1]. Even an army of Miffy, Elmo, Blues Clues, Disney Princess, Thomas, Spongebob, plain old Bob, Dora, and The Wiggles is powerless to keep Carle's distinctive...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 15, 2006
Hungry Hungry Hippos Teaches Selflessness And Love
Neal "Alternadad" Pollack's got a funny story in this week's NY Times Magazine. Oh, and his book is finally coming out in January:In the few days since we’d purchased Hungry Hungry Hippos for Elijah, he’d made up his own...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 13, 2006
50 33 32 Modded Playsam Racers To Be Auctioned Off At Fitzsu
Playsam and the Fitzsu Society in Pasadena have teamed up for the Fitzsu Grand Prix, a design auction Oct. 19th to benefit the World Childhood Foundation [no doubt the World Kitten & Puppy Foundations were on the beneficiary shortlist....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 12, 2006
Sutnar's Bauhaus-era Wooden Toys
Please please please will someone put me out of my misery and start producing these things? Everything I just wrote about Ladislav Sutnar's book goes 10x for his toys, most of which were made in the 1920's and early 1930's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 11, 2006
Czech Out These Insane 'Factory Town' Blocks By Ladislav Sutnar
Ladislav Sutnar was a Czech product/graphic/information designer who fled to the US at the outset of World War II. He spent the first years in the US trying to find a manufacturer for some of the toys he had...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 8, 2006
Hey Little Baby, You Want Some Hand-Crocheted Candy Corn?
Let's face it: the American Academy of Pediatrics frowns on giving any candy to infants. Why, I even got grief for letting my 3-week-old daughter barely touch a Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie with her protruding tongue. [I swear,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2006
Next Up On FOXNews: 85% Of Dads Obsessed With 'Sexpot Dolls/Characters?'
Last week I received a press release about a new study on parental skanktoy fatigue:...an overwhelming majority of mothers believe that many dolls available for young girls today are too provocative. The research says these mothers would like to see...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 1, 2006
Star Trek Auction: The Daddy Types Bidder's Guide
LOT 191: AUGMENT EMBRYO INCUBATOR MODULE, [est. $300-350] If you didn't already know Paramount was throwing a massive, EVERYTHING MUST GO! auction of Star Trek props, costumes and memorabilia at Christie's this week [Oct. 5, 6 &7], you probably...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Dad & Baby Waldorf Doll
Waldorf dolls--if you don't know, and I didn't--are handmade from natural materials [cotton knit over wool]. The name comes from their association with the Waldorf "whole child" educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. [Waldorf also gave name to the Eurythmics...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 26, 2006
Damn! That Is One Tasty Baby Toupee
Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, provides a sweet lid to the weak through the valley of hairlessness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the savior of bald children. And I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
This Week In Killer Teddy Bear News
Remember, kids, "RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED." [emphasis in the original] Teddy Bear Massacres Fish [boingboing]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
My Little Car Seat Pony: Casey And His Friends
I naively went to ABC Kids Expo execting to stumble across row after row of baby gear innovations. But when I got there, all anyone could talk about was The Zaky. These plush toys that attach to your kid's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 24, 2006
Brio's New Target Market [Hint: Starts With Gr-, Ends With -ups]
Indulge me a bit of MBA geekdom, but ever since that high chair turned up, I was kind of intrigued why Brio, which has been known for over 100 years primarily as a wooden toy company--and especially as a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 22, 2006
Warning Labels You Won't See
The latest issue of Make Magazine features some great warning labels that you probably won't be seeing on any animatronic or injection-molded plastic toys anytime soon. Danger: Early Brand Exposure The maker of this toy is trying to create a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 21, 2006
Hello Kitty Nutcracker At Hello Kitty Theme Park
Though we were tantalizingly close last summer, we never did make it over to Sanrio Puroland, the giant indoor Hello Kitty theme park which sits [past the Babies R Us, past the Costco...] on the western outskirts of Tokyo. It...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
With This Superman Laptop, You Will Never Be Alone, Kal-El
Your name is Kal-El. You have great powers, only some of which you have as yet discovered. You need some educational aids. All the math, memory, logic and spelling games of your home planet Krypton, all 30 of them,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 19, 2006
TMX Puts The "Eh" In Elmo
Ten years, and this is all they can come up with? A doll that still only does one thing: waves his arm and falls on the ground? Except for the addition of an off switch, I can't see how this...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Sweet "My Sweet Dog" Pulltoy By Yoshitomo Nara
Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara is well known for his paintings of slightly malevolent-looking children. Possibly evil, usually cute, definitely expensive. One of his other recurring themes, though, is puppies. Non-evil puppies. It's not a stretch at all, then, to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 17, 2006
TMX Elmo #1 Currently $2,550 On eBay
The first TMX Elmo is being autographed and sold on eBay. It is signed accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by muppeteer Kevin Clash and Mattel CEO Neil Friedman, and it is being auctioned off in co-operation with "The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
How A Kid Can Change Your Life, By Alain de Botton
After How Proust Can Change Your Life, philosopher Alain de Botton's books got a little too precious for me [out of the frying pan, into the fire, I suppose]. But I'll still check in to see what he's up to....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 15, 2006
Manipulate Me, Elmo! Mattel Press Release Reveals How Christmas Sausage Is Made
Are you ready for your child to form a deep, emotional attachment to a plush doll that's currently known only to the President of Mattel Brands and its subsidiary, Fisher-Price? X-cellent. Because that's just what is being planned by said...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 14, 2006
Fine, I'll Post Them. Spectacular Creative Playthings Wooden Family By Antonio Vitali
As I've come clean before, sometimes I like to post great kid-related stuff for sale on eBay--and sometimes, I like to post some great kid-related stuff after I've scooped it up for myself. For a couple of days now,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 13, 2006
Evenflo ExerSaucer TripleFun w/Everything On It, Plus Bacon
Bacon is good, but bacon you didn't have to cook is even better. The fine folks of Evenflo hosted a breakfast at ABC Kids to introduce the media to just such a pile of bacon--and to get a little...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Holly Hobbie, Teen Mom
Big news for the 2006 Holiday licensing season:In the new Holly Hobbie & Friends series, Holly herself is the great-granddaughter of the "original" Holly Hobbie and feels a deep sense of connection to her personality, creativity and warmth. Holly...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 12, 2006
Das Ist Ein Sweet Sweet Schaukelwagen: 1950 Plywood Rocking Car
While he's mostly known for his cantilevered Bauhaus chair, Dutch designer Mart Stam sometimes scores another mention--at least in design auction catalogues. At least one product resulting from a "toy design seminar" he held in Dresden--the Schaukelwagen by Hans...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
ABC Kids Expo: Se Habla Barney
I'm starting to upload photos to flickr from the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas, including this picture of what does not, unfortunately, stay in Las Vegas: a giant wall of Spanish-laced Barney merchandise for the Hispanic market. Daddytypes-tagged...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 4, 2006
Sweet Vintage Creative Playthings Cloth Cubes
Fredun Shapur's [1] sweet graphics are reason enough to get these vintage Creative Playthings Cloth Cubes. The fact that they're in good, playable condition and come with the original box, too, is just gravy. Of course, before you let...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 1, 2006
But Does He Sing 'Some Day My Prince Will Come?"
A distraught mom wrote in to the Washington Post because their 3.5-yo son is obsessed with Disney Princesses: wants to play dress up rather than go outside, even insists on a Disney Princess birthday party. "So far, my husband and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 31, 2006
Almost-Awesome Color Puzzle From Pottery Barn Kids [?]
Wow, now I know who's been bidding against me for the vintage Creative Playthings stuff on eBay. Pottery Barn Kids has launched Learning Toys, a collection of really simple, classic-looking wooden toys designed and color-coded for age-appropriate play. There's a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
A Is For AIEEEEE! ABC's Of Onomatopoeia Poster
In case you can't tell, I'm really digging on parents who are making stuff for their kids. There's been a spate of flashcards recently, but it goes way back, like to that awesome Hindu gods primer, too, by the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Snakes On A Fisher-Price Plane
Huh, for some reason, the "Unofficial Snakes On A Fisher-Price Plane Little People Action Airport & Fun-Jet Set," which comes almost complete with vintage little people for all the movie characters, plus a few rubber snakes, didn't reach its...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 24, 2006
Change The Way Your Kid Thinks About Ladybugs With This Puppet
Seriously, can you imagine the psychological imprint this puppet would leave on a kid if you went about your childcaring, diaper-changing, feeding/burping day with it on? And then reading The Grumpy Ladybug to him? Yikes. Folkmanis Ladybug hand puppet,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 23, 2006
Sweet Creative Playthings Fire Station Missing All Its Gear
This Playtown fire station from Creative Playthings is so clean, in fact, there's nothing but a bed and one firedude. If you're pretty sure that's the way it came, then you may score yourself a bargain when this auction...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 22, 2006
BRAINS. Creative Playthings Puppets Must Eat BRAINS
Yeah, what if it wasn't to defeat the Ruskies and their Godless, evil science? What if the whole post-war Creative Playthings educational toy thing was actually part of a diabolical plan to fatten up babies' brains--in order to feed...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 21, 2006
Dad Makes Modern Alphabet Flashcards
Gregg Chinn made these sweet modernist alphabet cards for his daughter, who's three. Now that he's proved their effectiveness at instilling alphabetical and modernistical knowledge ["B is for Bauhaus," "J is for Jet Age," "M is for (duh) Modern,"...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Dad Makes Electronics Board For 4-Year-Old
My kid thinks she's four, but if she really were four, I guess I'd be making her one of these here DIY circuit boards, so she could learn what electricity is without putting a battery on her tongue. And no...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Awesome Playground Backhoe
When we went to visit the grandparents a few weeks back, the city playground in Ivins, Utah had this awesome kid-sized backhoe digger, with dual hand controls which raise, lower and dump the bucket just like [in my best non-union...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Creative Playthings And The Rise Of Creativity
I wonked out a bit this weekend, surfing around through some academic work on toys and children's books, starting with Bard professor Amy F. Ogata's paper from Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 39 [2005] titled, appropriately/confusingly enough, "Creative Playthings." A reader first...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 17, 2006
Lundby Modern Dollhouse: Does Everything In Sweden Look Like Ikea?
I remember reading somewhere that Bjork said Iceland's so small, you always stay on speaking terms with your ex'es, because you keep running into each other all the time. [That, or you leave the country, I guess?] Maybe it's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
BRIO Gets A Little PlaySammy On Us
For their slick, modernist updates on some of their classic toys, Swedish toymaker Brio seems to have dipped its paintbrush into rival Swedish toymaker PlaySam's pot. Check out these sweet new building blocks and this shape sorting box, for example:...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 15, 2006
Slightly Tangential Links Roundup
Live by the Us Weekly, Die by the Us Weekly: For all the people patterning their family life after Chris Robinson and Kate Hudson: sorry, but you'll need to separate now and fob the kid off on a series...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 14, 2006
Recipe For Playdough And/Or Disaster
My mom just sent the kid a brick of homemade Playdoh [or should I say non-trademarked Playdoh-like clay] and a recipe for more. Here it is:Playdough 2 cups, water [with a few drops of food coloring] 2 cups, flour 1...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Marilyn Neuhart Dolls, Just Like The Girard Old Days
Marilyn Neuhart and her husband John worked with the Eames Office, Alexander Girard, and Herman Miller during the Golden Age of mid-century modernist design. When Girard opened his Textiles & Objects shop [T&O, as they apparently called it] to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 13, 2006
Alexander Girard Wooden Dolls
Extremely prescient designer Alexander Girard once said, "Toys represent a microcosm of man’s world and dreams; they exhibit fantasy, imagination, humour and love. They are an invaluable record and expression of man’s ingenious unsophisticated imagination. [They also decorate my...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 12, 2006
From Russia With Edge: Boys & Toys Indie Plush Toys
As soon as we walked into the Bubble New York show this week, the kid made a beeline for the Boys & Toys booth, which was an unconventional standout, even among the non-mainstream exhibitors. The black-lined booth had a nylon...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 11, 2006
Zid Zid For The Kid Kid
The Bubble New York show popped a couple of days ago, but I still have some spotlights left to shine on some of the standout exhibitors. One definitely goes on Zid Zid, a two-year-old or so label based in the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Like-A-BMW: BMW KidsBike Has Pedals, Too
Very interesting. Seems the folks in Munich are as susceptible as the rest of the country to popularity of Like-A-Bike-like walking bikes for little kids. But the new Kids' BMW Bike adds a twist--or a crank: you can attach...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 10, 2006
Babies R Ass? Is Screwing Customers The New Company Policy?
While YOUR emails are always rational and compelling, I do get messages from my fair share of cranks. And while I try to read each one with an open mind, I like to think I can spot a Customer From...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 9, 2006
Not-Ugly Dolls From House Of Ingri
The supercute cast of stuffed vinyl animal characters from the House of Ingri have big, expressive South Park eyes. Even the sad/weary/skeptical-looking ones are huggably cute. Unfortunately, their small parts and non-chew-resistant naugahyde means these toys must carry the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 8, 2006
So Many Hello, "Kitty" Jokes, So Little Time
My only comment: I guess it's appropriate that the Japanese department store behind the Paris Hilton edition of Hello Kitty is named after everyone's first STD. Headline: "Mono Comme Ca Kitty Is Paris Hilton (Devil? sp)" [via tmz]...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 7, 2006
The Our Children's Gorilla In The Room
I'd seen the slot-together chair by Swedish indie designers Our Children's Gorilla a few months back at Yoya but it didn't have any labels on it, and when I went back, it was gone. And Googling around for "Swedish Gorilla"...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 4, 2006
Bauhaus Bauspiel Blocks From Naef Are Freakin' Small
Alma Siedhoff-Buscher was the first Bauhaus practitioner to take children's design seriously. Siedhoff-Buscher saw children's design--including toys, furniture, and utensils--as a way out of the textile department, where she'd been confined with all the other women by Walter Gropius....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 3, 2006
Lois Lenski Alphabet Blocks I Cannot Find
The kid's got a thing at the moment for Lois Lenski's book, Policeman Small, and so I toggle between admiration of her clean, simple artwork and annoyance at the guy's apparently non-union job [a 12hour shift with only 30...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 1, 2006
Orange County's Largest Collection Of Star Trek Bears
Congratulations to Marlene McNeill, who won second place in the Orange County Fair, for her collection of Star Trek Bears. According to the display card in the fair's Hall of Collections, most of the bears came from the Star...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 28, 2006
Blackwater Teddy Bears
Hi. I'm Blackwater USA. You may know me from such previous private security and military contractor operations as the invasion of Afghanistan, the Iraq War, guarding the Coalition Provisional Authority and the interim presidents of Iraq and Afghanistan, the attack...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 26, 2006
"I Want A Pony, Daddy. A Gucci Leather Pony."
May that phrase never cross your child's lips. Because the 85th Gucci limited edition pony, in "chocolate Guccissima [1] leather with chocolate leather trim," signature web and gucci 85th anniversary plaque is not available, at least on the website....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 23, 2006
Enzo, Yves. Yves, Enzo.
Turns out Yves Behar, known to everyone but readers of the New York Times as the designer of the new Calla high chair for Fleurville, has a thing for Enzo Mari's zoo puzzle. The Wood Menagerie [nyt] Buy Enzo...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 21, 2006
Vintage Cork Blocks From Jiyugakuen
Another eBay find I can come clean on--only after I won it. This time it's from modernist eBay shark Andy, who tipped me off to these vintage blocks made from cork. They're Japanese, and they're from Jiyugakuen, a pioneering...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 20, 2006
Zapatista Nursing Doll
Whether you think they're separatist terrorists or indigenous freedom fighters, you have to agree: it's fun to say "Zapatista." Zapatista Zapatista Zapatista. And if you ever get bored with that, you can start composing M.C. Escher-like lactivist posters by...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 19, 2006
Where's The Outrage? Minnie BOP My First Nursing Pillow
Mothering Magazine's website is offline at the moment, so I'll be outraged for them: Every little girl wants to be just like Mom and now she can! Girls will love playing Mommy with the Minnie BOP mini-nursing pillow, sized...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 18, 2006
Mrs Beasley Dolls on eBay
By the time my sister was born, Family Affair was off the air, so I have no personal frame of reference for Mrs. Beasley. Frankly, she seems awful Chucky-like to me, ["You may call me Mrs. Beasley, would you...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Safety: Watch Out For Lacerating Tiffany Rattles
Did you get this Paloma sterling silver rattle from Tiffany's this past March? Because the Government strongly recommends you take it away from the baby immediately. Just-published research shows that exposing newborns to overly luxurious products and toys can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Unpainted Russian Nesting Dolls
Maybe it's just my imagination, but there's a bit of competitive craftiness in our family which I think fairly typical among Mormons. It's what happens when nobody drinks, I guess. Or maybe it's just my guilt kicking in when I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 17, 2006
Hoober Bears
And just like the local news, I follow up a dire warning about babies getting crushed by falling televisions with a story about teddy bears made from vacuum cleaner bags. Weather and sports-- after these messages. Hoover Bear Bags...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 16, 2006
No Actual Children Were Harmed In The Creation Of These Characters
For all my paranoia about being subjugated to the tyrannical rule of Disney Princesses, and my ongoing efforts to keep Elmo and Barney and Spongebob and Dora and Thomas and Pooh and Hello Kitty from brainwashing our kid, I...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Soy Teddy Bear Now Available In Baby Panda Version [& Vice Versa]
To commemorate the first birthday of Tai Shan, the baby panda the National Zoo leases from China [and you thought it was a gift...], the Zoo has issued a rare, special edition Tai Shan plush toy. By "rare," I mean...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 13, 2006
RU Kickin' It Old-[Pre]Skool With Community Playthings?
Do you have some awesome Community Playthings gear or furniture that's been going strong for over 30 years? Does your kid's day care center or pre-school? How about your parents or grandparents? Maybe it's something like this 70's-era Variplay...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 12, 2006
Block Party
All this time, I thought these were wooden beads for stringing on the long cord [included]. But the kid corrected me this morning. They're actually drinks. And coasters. Apparently, there is a large party afoot. Not shown: a Persian...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Whoa. Naef Gloggomobil: A Programmable Wooden Barrel-Organ
OK, This might be it for the elaborate wooden toys for a while. I don't know how I can surpass the Naef Gloggomobil. It's a totally programmable barrel organ, a giant, wooden version of that little metal cylinder that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 11, 2006
8-Layered Apple Puzzle From BorneLund [Japan]
There's a lot of passion in Japan for the wood toys. Naef, the Swiss toymaker I just posted about, is HUGE in Japan, for example. One of the bigger chain of specialty toy shops is BorneLund. [I found them...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Rainbow-Shaped Xylophone By Naef
Designer Heiko Hillig's first toy for Naef was Rainbow, a remarkable freestanding xylophone made of arced strips of ply colored with non-toxic dyes. If the all the different compositions on Nova68's site are any indication, though, the Rainbow is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 10, 2006
My First Texas Chainsaw Massacre Collectible
Toys R Who? Looks like Amazon's new toy store is gettin' along just fine, thank you very much, now that they're free of that ol' ball-and-chain Toys R Us. They are ready to PARTY! You know what I'm saying? They...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 2, 2006
eBay Finds: Vintage Fisher Price
When the kid goes to Grammy's house, she heads straight for the toy room under the stairs like all the older cousins--and plays non-stop with the old Fisher-Price Little People. You know, the little choking hazard ones. They're not like...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Amazon: Babies WERE Us
Amazon sent a notice today--the 2nd--saying that as of July 1st--um, yesterday--Amazon and Babies R Us/Toys R Us would no longer be in partnership together, and that "as a result of the improvements we'll be making to the site, some...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 30, 2006
Ouch. Time Looks At Educational Toys - In 1964
Just when you think this generation's somehow actually different...while researching our new magnifying glass stool, I came across this Time magazine article from 1964 about ambitious parents and the boom of "so-called educational toys":Advanced placement begins in the nursery, say...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
eBay I Don't Blog About--Until I Win It
I hope no one thinks that I'm just linkin' to stuff on eBay because it makes mad money [it doesn't, although if someone would've bought that AMG E55 wagon...]. No, I like to link stuff that a) is cool and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 28, 2006
Block Toys On eBay From Creative Playthings To Naef
This Creative Playthings wooden puzzle box just went up on eBay; it's $6 (+$8 shipping) right now, but it's the kind of thing that can go quite a bit higher, I'm afraid. On the other hand, the auction ends...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 27, 2006
Metal Concept Kitchen On Sale At MoMA Store
You thought those books were crazy, these toy prices are INSANE!!! MoMA's online store is having a toy sale, and this steel and plastic [eh] concept kitchen from Groupe Berchet is gender neutral, has a bunch of battery operated...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Daddle: We've Come A Long Way, Little Dogie
The Daddle is a saddle for giving horsie rides. It's made of stuffed cotton in a beautiful paisley print to match your tie. Or your shawl. The kneepads [aka, "horseshoes for dad"] are sold separately. All I can say...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 26, 2006
Team Eisner Buys Team Baby
ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner's investment company just announced it has acquired Team Baby Entertainment, which makes college sports-themed educational [sic] DVD's for infants and toddlers. Among the officially licensed videos in the series so far:Baby Irish (Notre Dame), Baby...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 25, 2006
In Fact, We've Been Waiting For The Ikea Train For A Long Time
At Ikea last night [doesn't that sound about right for a Saturday night now? What a freakshow], my wife picked up this little train set--20 pieces, really basic, wood but with little plastic attachment nubs, but just $12.99. That's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Random/Interesting Kids Stuff On eBay
Whether vintage, hard-to-find, or just a good deal, interesting eBay auctions show up here at daddytypes from time to time. And when they don't, I try to find them myself for your shoppertainment: First off, the Creative Playthings hobby...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 24, 2006
Plable: Play-Under Table, By Yumiko Tanaka
Yumiko Tanaka is a graduate student at the Royal College of Art in London. There, as part of a project to explore the way adults and children play and interact together, she developed the Plable. It's a concept for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Used Tissue Plush Dolls
Like her toilet paper roll dolls before them, plush artist Heidi Kenney's used tissue dolls are made from 100% polyester fleece and 100% wool felt. And like her other art toys, these tissues aren't intended for children under 3....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 20, 2006
Like A Kid In A Toy Store: Buying A Supermalfi At Yoyamart
So while I get all uptight about the complaints of retail workers and the idiocies of oblivious parents whose kids tear up stores without the slightest sense of responsibility, it occurs to me that I took the kid to Yoyamart...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Swingo Rocking Toy By Ergo Design. Just Like The Stokke Hippo? Huh?
So there's a secret underground economy in Europe where cool-looking rocking toys are traded out of sight of prying American eyes? What is up with that? I hope Jan from Kidsrepublic doesn't get his Euro design guru card revoked for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Dutch On Calder; Calder On YouTube
Sheesh, remind me never to play Jeopardy with Dutch. While I was posting my surprised little ramble about Alexander Calder toys, he was finishing up his own awesome, info-packed ode to Calder and his circus on Sweet Juniper. [Not enough...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 19, 2006
Whoa, Alexander Calder Wooden Toys Were Reissued?
While looking around eBay for some expensive wooden toys from Naef, I found some expensive wooden toys from Alexander Calder instead. Now I knew Calder made at least a circus-ful of toys in his early Parisian days, because they're at...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Piet Mondrian Modulon: Awesome De Stijl-Inspired Blocks By Naef
Wow. I finally started following up on some of the companies I'd seen mentioned in the latest issue of Baby Mammoth, the dad-friendly but advertiser-challenged baby magazine from Japan. One company they featured about ten times: toys by Naef,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 18, 2006
Stokke Stokke Hippo
Besides being the land of sun-filled nights and $25 Whopper meals [seriously], Iceland was the land of Stokke surprises. First (and second) were the Super-sized and Happy Meal-sized Tripp Trapp high chairs. But then at the same Fifa baby store...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 17, 2006
Sweet Juniper On Sweet Noguchi Playgrounds
Dutch works his blogging magic, writing in fascinating depth on the innovative, modernist playground designs by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi proposed many playgrounds all over the world, but few were ever built. In his hometown of New York, especially, Noguchi's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 15, 2006
Finally, Some Indie Stickers
The kid's been a sticker fiend for a while now. I know it seems like a kiddie cliche, but hey, it's a surefire way to keep her quiet and busy for a solid thirty minutes or more, so it's perfect...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 14, 2006
DWR Jax Merchandise Sks LTR On Craigslist
So you really like the nursery gear, kids' furniture and toys at DWR Jax, but you only want to pay about 50-60% of retail? Do the math, folks, that's why they're pulling the plug on the whole venture. But your...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 13, 2006
Polish Twig Crayons, Two Fitty
I mean, two fitty each. That's right, these awesome looking Inntrax crayons are made in Poland from forest salvage, underbrush and branches of birch, willow, and ash, which are then cut to crayon shape, dried, and loaded at each...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Solar-Powered Lucky Cat From Japan
The maneki neko is a traditional Japanese good luck symbol. It looks like it's waving, but it's actually doing the Japanese beckoning gesture. Supposedly, beckoning with the left paw means, "come here, potential customers!" and is often seen at store...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Solar-Powered Wooden Helicopter
Breastfeeding battles wearing you down? Worried that parenting is basically 18 years of barely being able to control your rage until the brat gets out of the house? How about something magical to cheer up your spirits? Like a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 11, 2006
Interesting eBay Auction Roundup
I've been doing a bit more eBay perusing than usual lately, and I thought I'd pass along a few interesting-looking auctions [that I'm not bidding on, otherwise I wouldn't be blabbing about it until after I won]. If you see...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Homestar Planetarium Not Coming To The US Soon
One of the few things we did to "decorate" the kid's nursery--besides painting a couple of the walls a slightly dark royal blue below the thick, eye-level, wooden mouldings--was to stick glow-in-the-dark constellations all over the upper portions of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Is There A Non-Animatronic Caddyshack Gopher Doll?
When the day comes that she sees it, I want the kid to be well prepared, so she can fully appreciate the greatest golf movie ever made. She's mastered the art of puking in a German car, and she has...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 10, 2006
Russian Balloon Art Copyright Pirates
Yoda is just the beginning. There are so many copyright-infringing balloon sculptures at this Russian Balloon Art Faire, that the studios have called Jack Valenti out of retirement to lead a SWAT team of pinheaded lawyers in an all-out...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 8, 2006
Vintage Dirty Diaper For Training Expectant Dads
I got this vintage "training diaper for expectant fathers" on ebay a few weeks ago. And it's got a surprising level of raunch and scatological humor that I usually associated with MAD magazine, not the Ward Cleaver era. This...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 7, 2006
Other Daddies Typing: Sheer Slackitude Edition
It's this weird guy thing, I guess, where I get busy, busier, and then I cut back on surfing and checking in on all the blogs for a week, then two, then... then it's just embarassment at being out of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 3, 2006
Hey, I Didn't Know This Clutch Ball Was Creative Playthings...
Some younger sibling of mine got this--and then passed it along to the others, and I vaguely remember drawing it at some point. But I never remembered that it was by Creative Playthings. Of course, I'm finding that what...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 2, 2006
From Grandma's Toy Closet
Last weekend before getting laid out by the flu, the kid and I stopped by my grandmother's house in smalltown, Utah. It was the first time the kid had actually spent more than a few minutes there [we were...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 1, 2006
Strange Balloon Molecule Man Has Too Much Fun
A piece of advice: if you're thinking of having a nerd come to your kid's birthday party to make balloon molecules, you'd better have some other entertainment lined up, too. This buckminsterfullerene molecule takes "only" 60-80 minutes, and the diamond...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hasbro Kicks Pussycat Dolls Out Of Corporate Bed
If you're keeping score at home, it's Dads & Daughters: 1, Pussycat Dolls: 0. A week or so ago, the non-profit groups Dads & Daughters and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood organizes a Letterwriting Campaign For A Trampy Doll-Free Childhood,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 25, 2006
Block Week Continues: Vintage Hello Kitty Blocks
Thanks to a regular diet of television administered since birth, the kid already knows her alphabet [and not only has she NOT turned into a hypnotized slug, she's always asking if she can ride a skateboard over to her...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Apparently, It's Blocks Week: Arcadia Asymmetrical Blocks
Sometimes it appears by royal decree of the Crown Prince of Norway, and sometimes it just creeps up on you. Blocks Week is the latter. Arcadia is a set 24 of asymmetrical irregularly cut, curved, arched and cutout blocks made...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 24, 2006
DIY Blocks, With Or Without Photos
Photojojo has a sweet video tutorial for making photo blocks. It involves gluing a 4x6 photo onto four 2x3 linoleum blocks, then sealing it with painter's gel. Super easy, and while I'm not too sure about the edibility of painter's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 23, 2006
Do You Know What An SSP Smash-Up Derby Set Is?
Then you'll be having some audio-induced flashbacks when you watch these toy commercials from the 70's. Can't say I've ever played--or even heard of--The Masterpiece Game before--that's the one where you buy the world's great art at auction for $100,000....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 20, 2006
Wow. Handmade Castle Building Blocks
Surfing through Mahar Dry Goods' totally awesome selection of contemporary and vintage-inspired artistan created products, I kept wondering how I missed posting about the site when owner Robert Mahar first emailed about it two-plus months ago. But then reading his...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 12, 2006
Wild [Creative Playthings Hobby] Horses
The Creative Playthings Hobby Horse was produced in the early-to-mid 1950's by the Princeton, NJ-based toy manufacturer, and it has long been recognized* as a classic of modern design. [Interesting bit of trivia I didn't know until very recently: the...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 2, 2006
PlaySam iCar: An "Homage To Apple"
How'd I miss this? The sweet Streamliner car from PlaySam was released in a special edition called the iCar, a white/silver combination that's meant as "an homage to..." to Apple, of course. Given the presence of the now-discontinued iPod...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 1, 2006
If Only There Were A Word For Parents Who Shop At YoyaMart...
Here's an excerpt from this week's "Ask A Clerk" column in NY Magazine, which was an interview with one of the folks from the sweet West Village kids store YoyaMart. The parts I think were inexplicably edited out are in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 29, 2006
eBay Watch: Eames Little The Toy Right Now
Actually, it's probably Eames' The Little Toy, or The The Little Toy. But it's rare enough that it probably doesn't come up that much in conversation anyway. That said, there's one on ebay right now, complete and in a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Crib Blog Update: Enzo Mari's Autoprogettazione
Your idea to revolutionise the world of distribution is undoubtedly to be admired. It is an idea shared by a wide section of the public sensitive to the question and not only those who, like me, fight for existence along...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 28, 2006
Baby's Got A Knitted Gun
jackhammer Originally uploaded by Extreme Craft. Call me an old-fashioned peace-nik, but I don't think I want my kid playing with guns, even a swell, knitted machine gun by Extreme Crafter Theresa Honeywell. If the kid did express interest...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 23, 2006
Hasbro Sluts-for-Tots Means Full Employment For Christian Mullahs
I expect the Christian lobbyist/talking headed wingnuts of Concerned Women of America will find little comfort in the fact that, when it comes to decrying the decadence of the West, they're reading off the same script as the Taliban. Because...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 19, 2006
In Other Giant-Toys-Take-Over-World News...
optimus_prime_kunming Originally uploaded by daddytypes. DT reader Debbie Yamauchi was freaked out by giant Elmo, but not as freaked out as when she and her brother saw Optimus Prime in China:In Kunming, China there stands a 40 ft. statue...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 18, 2006
She's Always After Me Lucky Charms
Despite my feeble efforts at concealment, the kid just caught me and asked if she could have some "bright Cheerios," too. A box-sized squishy Lucky Charms pillow is $14.99, but frankly, kind of weird. What's even weirder: I don't see...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 14, 2006
Bunny Foo Foo's Friends: Panda & Japanese Cat Plush
While poking around through etsy, I checked in on Tsukiyono, the Indiana artist who makes Japanese anime-inspired gifts and toys, and who made the awesome Bunny Foo Foo plush I bought for the kid for Christmas. [Dutch had pointed Tsukiyono's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 13, 2006
Plush Gimp Pleather Gimp
You know why babies are so cute? It's their giant heads on their little bodies. IT'S JUST SO CUTE. And you know how you're always saying to yourself, "Aww, I bet if you made a doll of the Gimp from...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Japanese Retail Update: First, Getting To Zero
Babies R Us Japan is pleased to announce the opening of their member rewards program, which enables customers to collect points, which they can redeem for valuable merchandise and offers and blah blah blah. It's called "the mama & baby...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 10, 2006
Disturbing? The Peeps
I'm gonna go out on a limb and declare that around here, Peeps are and will remain a once-a-year, irresistible culinary temptation that you'll gorge yourself on and inevitably regret later. AND NO MORE. So to whoever the Procter &...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 6, 2006
Plagues Of Egypt Plush Toys! Getchyer Plagues Of Egypt Plush Toys!
Jewish conspiracy? The only Jewish conspiracy I know is the one that kept me from finding out before now about this 10 Plagues of Egypt Plush Toy Set. It includes, and I quote:A spooky eyed drop of blood A Frog...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Matzoh Beach Ball. So Adorable
Why is this time of year different from any other time of year? Because it's when the Matzoh novelty items comes out, that's why. This year, it's the Genuine Matzah Inflatable Beach Ball, a fine promotional item from Shulsinger Judaica...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 2, 2006
I-- Wow. Ultraman Drives An Aprica.
Taking me out . Originally uploaded by My Ultraman Daddy. When we were in Japan last summer, I tried to find some books from Tatsuya Miyanishi's Otousan wa Ultraman/ Daddy is Ultraman series, but only ended up with Daddy's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 24, 2006
Ghostface Killah Doll w/Wutang Grip
This limited-edition 9" vinyl doll comes as shown, and is accompanied by "a Ghostface Killah Doll mixtape dy a world-famous DJ tba" [DJ tba totally tore it up at Miami last year.] If it weren't for the GFK-trademark, f-bomb-laden...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 18, 2006
Turn A Stokke Kinderzeat Into A Slide
If you ever wondered what the impact of the US's liability insurance regime might be on innovation and kids' furniture design, look no further than the German design studio who made an aftermarket slide attachment for the Stokke Kinderzeat...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 7, 2006
Like-A-Trick-Bike
Probably because of the explosion of competition in the "pedal-less walk-along bike-like contraption for toddlers" market segment, Likeabike has added an all-aluminum model, the Likeabike Jumper, that comes with big 12" inflated tires and weighs just 8 lbs. It's available...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 3, 2006
First Nick & Jessica, Now Amazon & Toys R Us?
They had a deal, see, and so when Amazon started seeing other [toyselling] people, Toys R Us got all jealous and mad, especially about that $200 million they'd paid for what it thought was category exclusivity. So TRU sued. And...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Want An Eames The Toy
Ray and Charles Eames sure made some kid-friendly classics--the House of Cards, that Hang-it-All, the RAR Rocker, of course--and watching their movie, Powers of Ten a few times would give a rush of enlightenment to anyone ages 10^0 -...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 1, 2006
Blessing & Curse: The Hello Kitty Cell Phone
When the wife couldn't make it to the Muji store on this last trip to Tokyo, she couldn't get the kid the replacements for the shoes she loves but had outgrown. So naturally, with only the airport gift shop's...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 27, 2006
Brooklyn Baby Store Bankruptcy Auction: Everything Must Go! Tomorrow, 2/28
MB Furniture Discount Store was in business for over 50 years in Brooklyn, until it went bankrupt. Now, all the contents of their retail location AND their warehouse are being sold at auction TOMORROW, Tuesday 2/28 at 11:00 AM....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
It's Discovery Monday!
As new parents if sometimes feels like you're in it all along, inventing and discovering all these wonderful, confounding, vexing, rewarding mysteries as you go. The truth, of course, is more complicated, and more simple. Some experiences are totally unique....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 24, 2006
Finally, Plush Week Photos
You know, it started with those damn Ugly Dolls, and it's spiralled out of control from there. While our actual oddball indie plushtoy purchases are very few--the kid did get that Bunny Foo Foo for Christmas--I've become a fan of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 23, 2006
Muji Hiragana & Alphabet Blocks
I was putting a quick shopping list together while surfing around Muji's net store, and I was kind of blown away by the large crop of cool unpainted wood toys they have now, including all kinds of little fruits...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Meanwhile, Elsewhere In The New York Times,
A small boy, 3, lives with his artsy parents, three vintage Eames rockers [with refurbished Modernica bases], and an unidentified modernist Ikea rocking horse in a corrugated steel house of his father's design in Lubbock, TX. The father's book, seven...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 22, 2006
The Other K-12: The Kid Visits Katsucon
The wife had just left for a work-related, um, con in Japan, and I was on kid duty, so when it turned out that one of the biggest anime, video games, Japan-pop, and cosplay conferences on the east coast was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Kid Loves Bears, The Kid Loves Tofu. So Naturally...
... the kid should love a Tofu Bear, right? It's made from SOYSILK®, a registered trademark name for some kind of soybean byproduct that somehow gets spun into plush fabric. The bear is plain white, with absolutely no distinguishing...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 18, 2006
Local Man Drives Bugaboo, Dares You Not To Look At His Crotch
Uh, wow. Dateline Los Angeles. An unidentified old man was seen driving a yellow and blue Bugaboo Cameleon along the boardwalk. In another incident, the same old man was spotted on La Brea or someplace with a Graco SnugRide...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 12, 2006
Photoshop Contest: Bad, Bad, Bad Idea Toys
The Marlboro Reds Transformer; the spiral slide with razor blades embedded in it; Poledancing Barbie; Mister Pot Head; My First Ouija Boardbook. You'll understand why of all the entries in Worth1000.com's Photoshop contest asking for toys that are just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 11, 2006
Bilibo Static Hair Sweeper Also Chair, Fun Kid's Toy
The kid's aunt got her the Bilibo, which is a cute, little plastic dome which uses static electricity to pick up hair from the carpet. It works great, but there's no handle, so after a few hours bent over, dragging...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 10, 2006
An Interview With MoMA's Paola Antonelli
I'd been stuck on a comment I read last fall by MoMA Architecture & Design curator Paola Antonelli before her exhibition, "Safe," opened about children's product design, and so I decided to get her take on the Baby Industrial Complex....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 30, 2006
Really, The Mohair Tricycles Steal The Show
The tagline of the Artgames exhibition at Aachen, Germany's Ludwig Forum should be, "come for the Ministeck children's portaits, stay for the mohair-covered playground implements." Actually, in German, they probably already have one superlong word for that. Here are...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 28, 2006
Teddy Bear Hacking: Zelda Teddy Bear
This bear from Build-a-Bear [Did you know about this? My jury's still out, but the potential for abuse makes me really skeptical.] was dressed up as Link from Zelda. He plays Zelda music when you squeeze his paw. Link...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 27, 2006
Mfr: Oh Nooo, Elmo Doesn't Want Anyone To Die
Thank heaven we live in a country with a vigorously free media. According to an investigation by KNDO [NBC23 to the fine folks in Yakima, Washington], the manufacturer of that Elmo potty training book that asked kids, "Who wants to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 25, 2006
David Sedaris, "Baby Einstein," & Gettin' The Alphabet Pal To Swear
Victoria writes at de stijl about their experiments getting the Leapfrog Alphabet Pal to swear. Which, of course, was a highlight of "Baby Einstein," an essay in David Sedaris's Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim about his brother becoming...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 21, 2006
Like My Shiny Mud Balls, Baby
Well, nobody does media-fuelled obsession with betterment than Japan, as the pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo about the supposed developmental benefits of making hikaru doro-dango [shiny mudballs] shows. There was a TV show about them on NHK a few years back, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 12, 2006
Celebrity Baby Rolls A Radio Flyer Walker
from mathowie's photostream [flickr, where dad of other celebrity baby, who ALSO got the Radio Flyer, mentioned that an earlier production of the Radio Flyer Classic Walker was recalled to fix "tips on the clickers," whatever that means.] The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 7, 2006
Wait. Beating Up Elmo Is Somehow A Bad Thing?
So there's Suicide Pact/Potty Training Elmo, and now Beat Up Elmo Elmo? And a Chinese-led Anti-Christian conspiracy at Wal-Mart to brainwash our children using subliminal messages planted in their toys and why don't we have more security in this country...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 31, 2005
Plush Baby Dinosaurs In A Nest Swimming Pool
At our third Christmas session last night, the kid got this very cute set of Melissa & Doug plush baby dinosaurs from Grandma. [Melissa & Doug have clearly been able to break their brand out of their original Cute Wooden...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
"Where Do Babies Come From?": The Video Game
Sega recently released Where Do Babies Come From?, a sequel to its Nintendo DS wooing game, Feel The Magic. Both games are set in a stylized world populated by silhouettes [who all apparently have the same day job, modeling...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Plush, Snaps, Origami, Animals: Snapazoo
Ross Miller originally created the Transformer-like velour Snapazoo in the early 1980's, and it sold well in the US [Miller is from Massachusetts] and Europe for a while before it went out of production. In 2005, the Japanese indie toy...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 30, 2005
Mini-Boo Update: User-Testing = Launch
So the last couple of nights, and some portions of the last couple of days have been occupied with the final construction of the kid's Mini-boo. Our nomadic lifestyle helped "Santa brings your presents to three places because he doesn't...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 24, 2005
S'Morey Christmas To All
And to all a good night. Unless you the type who's not into Christmas, in which case, enjoy your Chinese food....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 23, 2005
The Boy In The Water-Filled Plastic Bubble
One of the odd pleasures of going to St. George, Utah is the D.I., Deseret Industries. It's a giant, Salvation Army-style thrift shop that's the denominationally correct repository of choice for all the stuff Mormons get rid of, and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 21, 2005
Mini-boo Update: Dremel Make The Baby Cry
... Yes, all you suburbanites with your basement workshops and garages and such can chuckle silently to yourselves. Hell, laugh at the top of your lungs; no one'll hear you. It turns out the banshee-like whine of a Dremel cutting...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 16, 2005
Full-on MacGyver: A Mini-boo Update
Here's what's I got so far with the Mini-boo, the Bugaboo-esque toy stroller I'm making out of a Riesenthel Carrybag. So we've figured out how to do the fabric; we're going to stitch the bag together in a couple of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Muji Giraffe Made From Re-Used [sic] Yarn
This Muji stuffed giraffe is made from the leftover cotton yarn that would have been thrown away at the end of a production run, so it's not technically "re-used," which'd be slightly gross, but "reclaimed" or "re-scued" which is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Muji Suburbia In A Bag
Muji has cute little bags of wooden blocks in the shapes of the icons of the world's great cities--London, Paris, Tokyo, New York. [The NYC one, for example, includes the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, MoMA's original building--and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 15, 2005
Toast Plush By Funfun Via Cute Overload
The title says it all, really, and if I could pour syrup on it for you, I would. Toast plush by Funfun may be available in LA, SF, and NYC at Giant Robot, Kidrobot, and at Super7. More cute...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 9, 2005
Blobby Farm: More Crafty Hipster Goodness
Blobby Farm is in Indiana--apparently, it's The Crossroads (Of Craftiness) State. The folks there make all sorts of unique plush characters by hand, characters which are all imbued with little profiles of telling personality quirks. Loaf 5 Jr., for example,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 6, 2005
Grant Your Kid +5 Geekhood w/Plush D&D Dice
Fuzzy dice are usually the province of wannabe-tacky pimps. But if you get your kid some fuzzy Dungeons & Dragons polyhedral dice now, while he's young, you can be pretty sure you'll save him from a life of frontin' and...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
I Want A Kid-o Bib: A Must For Christmas
Not only a Kid-o bib, of course, will do, but I'm just saying. That all-too-familiar frustration with the horrible design of most baby gear probably intensifies when you open an awesome baby store, because Kid-o has introduced quite a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 5, 2005
I'm Dreaming Of A [Sweet Homemade Toy Stroller] Christmas
OK, this was going to be a surprise, and then I thought, what the hell? If it's a surprise for the kid, fine, but why am I keeping it a secret from you? Because she's still obsessed with them, I'm...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 1, 2005
Goodnight Nothing, Goodnight Bush: Baby Bush Toys
A Rubik's Cube-like "twisty thing" that's red on every side. A puzzle with one circular piece ["ages 5 and up."] A "Special Edition" of Goodnight Moon where every page is blank ["Your child's self-esteem will soar as they pretend to...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 28, 2005
Now On eBay: Community Playthings, Starck Trike
A couple of eBay finds, if you're doing some off-the-wall holiday shopping, near Denver, or both: There is a pretty decent-looking six-piece collection of vintage Community Playthings kitchen toys [well, five, plus one awesome phonebooth] in Aurora, near Denver....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 22, 2005
Sweet Vintage Kids Trove Just Hit Ebay
DT reader Andy gave a heads up on a batch of sweet, sweet mid-century childrens' design and toy items he just put up for sale on ebay. The lots include two sets of kid-size Bertoia chairs and a vintage...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
PlushLula, Brazilian President Doll
Brazilian conceptual artist Raul Mourao has opened an exhibition called Luladepelucia, or PlushLula, at a Rio de Janeiro gallery called Lurixs. Along with some other works, the show features 100 limited edition plush versions of Brazilian president Luiz Inacio...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 31, 2005
Pottery Barn Kids Girls & Boys
First, I need to apologize to J-Mo. I kind of flew off the toy vacuum handle in the comments when she posted about the cool red/silver Pottery Barn Kids toy vacuum. All I saw online was the pink/pink/pink vacuum, though....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 30, 2005
Dyson Who? Check Out This Toy Housekeeper Cart
Do you think letting your kid playing with a toy replica of a needlessly expensive, high-tech vacuum cleaner teaches the wrong, elitist/consumerist lessons? Well, what about this toy housekeeper's set, a wooden pushcart that comes complete with a broom &...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 26, 2005
Toy Dyson Vacuum Cleaner(s)
I know it's supposed to be the paradigm-breaking Vacuum Cleaner For Guys and all, the Bugaboo of vacuum cleaners, but until they make one that isn't Barney-colored, I don't think I'll be seeing a Dyson vacuum cleaner sucking up...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Hand-Knit DNA Model
You want evolution to make your kid's brain smarter? Forget the pack of British Velcro blocks; get someone to knit him a DNA molecule to play with. Kimberly Chapman has the complete how-to [complete except for, "how do I buy...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 25, 2005
Pockets of Learning Replaceable Noah's Ark
Grandma just got the kid this little Noah's ark set from a company called Pockets of Learning. It's not flooding the world with excruciating hand-made craftsmanship--most of the designs are printed onto the polyester fabric pieces, which are then machine...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
CreAtiles Spur Evolution Through Hours Of Intelligent Design
CreAtiles are big, soft, yet rigid panels and pieces that fasten together in a variety of ways to make a house, a boat, whatever. More importantly, and despite what their name might imply, they make your kid a WINNER in...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 24, 2005
Marx Imagination Doll House, You Complete Me.
You remember how I found that one random ebay link to a Marx Imagination doll house from the 1960's that was still sealed in its original box? Well, that bad boy went for $380. Yay, Marxism! If that seems a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 23, 2005
Treehouses & Tree Blocks - Made From Trees
To be honest, I never pegged those cookie-baking elves as straight, but an outfit in Santa Barbara is selling "Wooden Tree Houses Straight from Nature, Made by Elves." They're made from wood gathered from orchards and managed forests using sustainable...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 21, 2005
Electronic Toy Design Class Weblog
A Parsons class for electronic toy designers has a weblog. Whether you want to source odd, cheap motors or you entertain fantasies of tearing that chattering Furby limb from electronic limb, it's definitely worth a look:Boohbah is the second...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 13, 2005
Handknit Robots
I think I read somewhere that all the snowboarding kids are crocheting these days, making their own hats and stuff. Now unless crocheting and knitting don't mix--like how racquetball messes up your tennis game--all you crocheters can probably just look...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
What's Up With This Playmobil Security Check-In?
First things first: Playmobil is not intended for children under 3; you know how full of terrorists those nursing lounges and subway strollers are, and you it'd be downright un-American to help them plan out their little security-evading scenarios....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 11, 2005
Celebrity Baby Has Big Box Of Crayons, ASD
The kid doesn't have crayons; because they make me nervous. The table, the walls, the art, I see the kid having a blast playing with crayons, and I don't think "Awwww, maybe she'll be an artist someday. Let's put these...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 6, 2005
Foreign Language Alphabet Blocks
Showing why he earns the big blogging bucks, Jay points to Uncle Goose's basic wood letter blocks, American-made, but also available in ten non-English languages. Except for the occasional umlaut or accent aigue, a lot of the letters look suspiciously...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Green Dollhouse Project
If somebody'd told me on Monday that this week was mod dollhouse week, I'da been all, "dollhouses? No way, dude, too many parts." Oh well. Sparkability Mark just added a link to The Green Dollhouse Project, a design competition/exhibition at...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Another Sweet Creative Playthings Dollhouse
While DT reader Andy's waiting for the kid (six days overdue, no pressure!), he's also rounding up info on cleanly designed, wonderfully constructed, vintage Creative Playthings toys, like this two-story dollhouse, which was originally available with either finished or natural...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2005
Celebrity Baby Has Sweet Mid-Century Modernist Dollhouse
Form follows function for DT reader Elizabeth's vintage modernist dollhouse, which her daughter Dorothy's now playing with: I have a really cool dollhouse that my grandfather got me over thirty years ago. I looked around online, but couldnít find anything...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Tricycles: Big Wheels In Disguise
With a single twist, this sweet Radio Flyer Twist Trike converts from a low-slung Big Wheel-like chopper to an honest-to-goodness tricycle. You may have to stare at it for a minute to figure out where to twist. #440 Twist...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
And To Think That I Saw It At Yoyamart
Last weekend, I checked in at Yoyamart, the sweet, sweet kid-centric store in EMePa (East of Meatpacking District). The highlights, some of which are available on Yoyamart's online store, too, are below: - the smurftastic Bugaboo By limited edition stroller...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 4, 2005
These Toys Stink. Literally.
I'd forgotten that the kid's Lamaze Multi-sensory Clutch Cube--a favorite toy--smelled like green apples. Maybe it doesn't matter; the kid loved it, and so did we. But what'd we know? We loved it because the kid loved it, and it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 24, 2005
'Educational Toys' Are Rubbish. So Here Are The Top Five.
The producers of the UK's highly respected Good Toy Guide and researchers across Europe insist that so-called 'educational toys' have no actual, identifiable educational value. Furthermore, the toy industry's educational claims mislead parents, and exploitp their guilt over working too...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 21, 2005
Boezels Sensory Toys: Look, Don't Touch For Now
Boezels are these abstracted stuffed animal/creatures for--I kid you not-- children with mental or psychological disabilities, Alzheimer's patients...and hipsters [and not just any hipsters; hipsters who go commando, if the website's any indication]. Created by Dutch designer Twan Verdonck,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 13, 2005
On Sharing, Or Not
So at the playground in Central Park today, we had a little problem. First, I guess I was out of town and didn't get the memo, but every single kid there had his or her own toy stroller. Every one....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 8, 2005
Coming Soon: The Svan Scooter
I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the Svan chair. A lot of people like it's swoopy, um, Swan-like curves, but it just looks kind of overdesigned to me. All those platforms and angles. [And not just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 30, 2005
Pervy Miffy
Not a huge fan of the character-laden gear, but I was buying all sorts of amusing lunch stuff for the kid--like perforated seaweed sheets to make the kid's rice ball into a soccer ball, teeny little soy sauce containers for...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 29, 2005
Baby Store Recommendations In [Your City Name Here]
A while back someone [who missed some good stores on his trip to NYC, I believer[ had the suggestion to get people to put together a list of favorite stores in their home towns. So let's see what we can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 28, 2005
MondKutsche is German for 'Moon Coach'
This versatile, award-winning wooden toy was designed by Dunja Bauer, a German student who's described in one Google translation as "the nut/mother of two children." I wouldn't have thought anything of it, except that the translation also points out that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 23, 2005
Two Wooden Bikemakers, Both Alike In Dignity
In fair Brooklyn where we lay our scene, From mid-nineties grudge break to new mutiny. and so on and so forth, you know the rest. Bloods and Crips. Sharks and Jets. Hell's Angels and, um, another equally big, scary biker...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 8, 2005
iDuck, iDog, iGiveUp
Dress your kid up like an iPod, fine. There's nothing cuter. But we have to draw the line somewhere. And if it's not at the iDuck--a silly silver rubber duck with a water-activated LED in its stomach that was...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 7, 2005
The Japanese Cult Of Rody
Just going by the age of most of its customers, the 6-story character goods store in Harajuku should not be called Kiddyland. Even in this country that takes its Hello Kitty very seriously, though, she only has half a floor....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 29, 2005
What's It Gonna Take To Get You Into One Of These Arm Toys Today?
AJ at Thingamababy found The Arm Toy while doing what he calls "some errant web research." [I think that means he's trying to make his own Borg costume, but hey, we're the winners here, so it's cool with me.] The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 24, 2005
Squid-Eating Whale Puppet
When I used to make the kid's handle-mouthed bear rattle from Muji "eat" her hapless plush animal finger puppets, I worried a little that maybe it was too scary. Maybe I should be protecting her from the harsh realities of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 22, 2005
The Best Five Bucks We Spent On Our International Flight
The kid did pretty well on the flight to Japan. [Not as well as last year this time, when she was five months old, and slept 11 of the 14 hour flight in her chair, but still, she was nowhere...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 13, 2005
Sweeeet Minimalist Alphabet Blocks from Stitch
Damn, it's 11:45, and I've got a ton of stuff to do, but I can't NOT post about these awesome-looking minimalist alphabet blocks I just found at Stich, a Chicago contemporary design store. They're designed by Jon Stevenson, and they...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Plush Ninjas from Ninjatown
Although they're rumoured to have mystical powers, these ninjas are not bred for their skills in magic. They're handsewn in limited editions by a Chicago artist named Shawn Smith. His project, Shawnimals, makes collectible art plush and vinyl toys intended...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 11, 2005
Report From 'Heath Ledger''s Buy Buy Baby Registry
I guess if I were Heath Ledger or Michelle Williams, I probably wouldn't use an alias to create my baby registry, either. But I probably would check with my publicist to see if Bugaboo just happened to drop off a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 10, 2005
It's Montessori Time 6/11 at Kid O
I am a couple of days late in posting about this, sorry. Kid O, the west village shop which is one of the rare non-Montessori schools to offer the system's pedagogically gorgeous educational toys, is hosting Montessori seminars Saturday 6/11...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 9, 2005
Cubee: Singing Blocks
From the company that brought you home-karaoke and the electronic dog bark translator comes Cubee, a pyramid scheme of six block-shaped animals that moo, quack, or tweet out three different songs apiece. But when you stack them, the top dog...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 15, 2005
AWESOME Rocking Saab From Playsam
[Mark from Sparkability just mentioned this in the Rocking Chicken comments:] Playsam designer Ulf Hanses, who created the company's Rocking Chicken and Horse--as well as their signature Streamliner Classic car, for that matter--also created this incredible Rocking Car in 2001....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
The Rocking Chicken Song, Or What Won't Be On Oxygen
Granddad got the kid this Rocking Chicken from Playsam, the Swedish maker of sleek wooden toys. She loves it, and as she was rocking frantically on it this morning, my wife asked me for a rocking song. Stumped, I just...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 7, 2005
My First (Um, Totally Extreme!!)Toy Stroller
It's Rad! It's Extreme! It's ready for some serious Off-Road Adventure! Your friends' baby dolls won't know what hit'em when you roll up on them with the AWESOME Max Box toy stroller for boys-- Yes, or should I say, Oui....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 20, 2005
The Happy, Healing Side of RFID
You may know RFID as the tiny radio signal-emitting chips that will someday rob every aspect of your privacy once Wal-Mart makes sure they're embedded in everything you own. But as the Japanese toy company Bandai shows, there's another, more...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 19, 2005
In case you're in the market...
Although they can sometimes reach more than $100 on ebay, a high price of around $50-60 is more typical for customized My Little Ponies. Sorry, this Boy From Oz Little Pony autographed by Hugh Jackman is not for sale. The...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 17, 2005
Blow Me To Smithereens Elmo
Apparently, when they're x-rayed in the box, the configuration of belly battery pack and arms-and-legs sensors makes Tickle Me Elmo look just like a bomb. At least that's the story from a friend of the x-ray guy in the mailroom...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 19, 2005
My Daughter, The Plushie
If, 25 years from now, I see the kid in an Agnes Varda documentary about an inordinate fixation on teddy bears--or in an MTV documentary about people dressing up as Care Bears--I'll know when it started. This week. From early...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 5, 2005
My First Coffee Maker
Because nothing goes together better than small children and caffeine, Discovery Toys offers Pour Some More (or is that Pour Some More!!), a realistic toy coffee maker for children aged "from 4 years ñ Primary School." At least I think...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
February 1, 2005
Knock, Knock: We're From Defective Yeti, And We're Here To Help
When I came back from Home Depot, this message from The Squirrelly's Dad was affixed to my front door with a large serrated-edge hunting knife:Hi. This is Matthew Baldwin of defective yeti, come to clear the air about a...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 23, 2005
La Chenille ABC Teaches Your Child Quebecois
DT reader Cameron mentioned this in the comments for the loud Learning Home toy:We have a Chenille ABC (I have no idea what it's called in English) by Leapfrog. Lucas loves it. Adores it. The first one broke and we...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 22, 2005
Celebrity Baby Embraces Giant, Super-Annoying Toy!
Although his nursery/playroom wing in the Defective Yeti cave must be full of gigantic and entertaining toys, online celebrity baby The Squirrelly has a special favorite. Frankly, it sounds so annoying I'm glad we can't even hope to fit it...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 19, 2005
The Compleat Star Wars
You've already reserved your Darth Tater. Your plush Jawa is still new in box, with tags. What's the one thing no serious Star Wars collection can do without, yet is made all the more difficult to obtain precisely because...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
January 5, 2005
In Case Your Mobile Phone Isn't Toy Enough
Hey, when chewing on my cell phone is the only thing that quiets the kid down, 9 times out of 10--ok, maybe 7 times out of 10--I'll let her have it. In the most desperate moments, goo-soaked keypad and potentially...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 27, 2004
Teaching Your Child To Babble In Four Languages
Rifling through other people's kid's piles of Christmas presents, I found The Babbler under Modern Day Dad's tree. When a kid activates it, The Babbler makes those hard-to-pronounce-unless-you're-a-native-speaker sounds in French, Spanish, and Japanese so that he becomes familiar with...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 14, 2004
Awesome Wooden Swedish Car From Playsam
We just bought the kid this car for Christmas. It's from a Swedish company called Playsam, which makes all kinds of sleek wooden toys for kids, adults and executives. (Are those three categories mutually exclusive?) This two-person model is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Nativity Sets
OK, when I was a little kid, I had a fascination with nativity sets, so one Christmas, like every great aunt in the world sent me a nativity set. Well, Grammy just sent the kid her first set, from Fisher...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 11, 2004
Only 2 More Shopping Days...
...until you have to pay retail again at babystyle.com. I don't know why I've never mentioned it before, but we received a couple of babystyle toys as gifts when the kid was born, and she is still loving them, even...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
December 1, 2004
Finger Puppy Puppets Out Of Dog Yarn
Started as a loving tribute to a lost companion, VIP Fibers creates custom spun yarn from the fibers of your Very Important Pet or, if your pet is not very important, from the high-quality fibers of some other dog, cat...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
November 25, 2004
Minimalist Rubber Duck
I spotted this putty grey rubber duck at Kid-O, the cool NYC kid's store. When I researched it online, I turned up dozens of "Deluxe Rubber Ducks," including a silvery Disco Duck, a camo GI Duck, and a UK-inspired Jack...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 31, 2004
MoMA Store Pacifier Amuses, But Doesn't Pacify
We got this pacifier early on as a gift. It's sold at the MoMA Design Store, but it's designed for Vice Versa by Elisa Gargan and Terry Pecora. The pacifier is certainly distinctive-looking and comes in a molded hard plastic...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 19, 2004
Rubber Duckie, YOU'RE The One
And all this time, I thought it was Neo. I was looking down in the shower and wondering...Where did all these yellow ducks come from? [The duck-shaped anti-slip stickers we just put in the tub are from Grometville (at least...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 16, 2004
Challah Baby: Think Ms. Potatohead for Jews
Maybe it's a tribal thing. American Indians made dolls out of corn husks, and Disney fans make pancakes that look like Mickey Mouse [??]. So why am I so confused by a doll patterned after a loaf of Challah bread?...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 7, 2004
Stupid Creatures
Think of Stupid Creatures as the result of Ugly Dolls hooking up under a Stitch'T quilt. Stupid Creatures are actually the creation of John Murphy, no doubt the hippest ceramicist/illustrator in North Carolina [sic]. He makes them from old socks...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
October 5, 2004
Yoyamart--Like daddytypes: the store
We were walking around Hudson St. Sunday afternoon when we popped into Yoya and Yoyamart, a clothes shop and toy/gizmo/furniture shop, respectively. First, Yoya has an uncommonly cool selection of kids clothes, none of it particularly cheap. Yoyamart, meanwhile, is...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 30, 2004
Tyvek, The Paper-like Miracle Toy
Tyvek, the stuff of Fedex envelopes and This Old House product placements, seems to be a happily indestructible alternative to paper, which the kid loves to chew on (and turn to mash, and incite a panic when we realize 15%...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 23, 2004
Sydney's Playground, aka Tribeca House for Kids
Did you go to Brown? Were you at the City Museum party last night? Is your kid very advanced for his age? If so, be sure to mention it when you go to Sydney's Playground, the 6,000-sf playground-in-a-loft in Tribeca,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 9, 2004
Painted "Wood" Toycart from Target
The NY Times calls this a wood toy cart; the Target website description is "wood and wood composite," so I'm sure it's safe to gnaw on. And it won't outgas any kind of bonding chemicals, at least not any more...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
September 6, 2004
Fetopia, home of Cletus the Fetus
I can't believe I haven't posted this before. Fetopia is was not only the home of the original Cletus the Fetus, but of a small, small world of feti, all handmade from sculpey clay and ready for...well, I bought about...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 26, 2004
Villa Sibi, an amazing Miesian Dollhouse
Sirch is a woodworking family from Germany with a 400-year history. The current Sirch, Wolfgang, has teamed with Christof Bitzer to design an excellent range of childrens' toys and furniture (more of that later). Their latest creation is the Villa...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 25, 2004
Like A Bike, extreme retro bike from Germany
While Italians are poppin' out futuristic stroller/trikes instead of babies, designers in Europe's other rapidly aging country, Germany, are waxing mod-nostalgic. One result: LikeABike, a sleek, pared down reinterpretation of one of the earliest bicycles, the 1817 Draisienne (named after...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
OKO Trike, Like a Stroller
They sure are burning through the kids product R&D money in Europe these days, even in countries with no kids. The OKO Trike is from Italy, the product of extensive research into "child ergonomics." That explains the easy on/off access,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 23, 2004
Infant software (and hardware)
Babysmash is a shareware program at kidsdomain.com for infants and toddlers which flashes colors and shapes on your computer screen with each slap of the keyboard. Your actual system is locked and protected, however, by certain keystrokes that they'll have...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 15, 2004
Takashi Murakami Plush Flowers
These limited production plush toy flowers are by the contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, and are similar to the designs he made for the jellybean-colored Louis Vuitton bags so popular with the ladies these days. Considering that an authentic purse can...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
August 14, 2004
Awww, Fisher-Price Loving Family Dad
Normally, I would think this is too cutesy sweet to mention, but remember, I just got back from Japan, where literally Every. Single. Company. has a cuddly cute Hello Kitty-esque mascot. Right now, a Fisher-Price Loving Familyô Dad & Baby...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 22, 2004
Handmade Blanket, Stuff from Guatemala
Thomas Heaton, 44, a single United Methodist pastor in Nashville, Ind., has been making rice and beans for Sunday supper since adopting his son Manuel, 9, in Guatemala five years ago. (Because Guatemala is one of the few countries that...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 15, 2004
Cuboro: a cool toy, too small for babies
Cuboro is a beatiful-looking game/system from Switzerland. You build intricate marble trails using 5cm wood cubes with various holes and channels cut into them. The birch cubes seem as Swiss-engineered as a, um, Swiss watch. I don't know how young...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 12, 2004
Russian Dancer Finger Puppets
Depending on how big your hands have grown since you were ten, you may have to buy your Russian Dancer hats by the pound instead of by the can. Either way, they also seem like perfectly sized choke hazards....
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
July 9, 2004
Nursery 'Home Theaters' from Japan
Ahh, Japan. I'm getting psyched up to take the kid to visit my old stomping grounds by reading up on Japanese baby gear, practicalities, etc. Which is how I came across these nursery products for putting the kid to sleep...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 27, 2004
Other Religious Finger Puppets
Finger puppets? They're not just for Hindus anymore. A beautiful Sunday morning seems like the right time to point out [sic] the finger puppets of other faiths: Nativity Scene finger puppets for six-fingered Christians: "Set of 6 plush Nativity Finger...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Ikea Machine-Washable Farm
Yesterday we went over the river and through the woods (lots of woods) to Grandma's house, where the kid found this fabric farm from Ikea waiting for her. The animals are all very grabbable--and chewable--and machine-washable. And the whole brood...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 15, 2004
Hindu Finger Puppets
You don't have to be Hindu--and neither does your kid--to appreciate these finger puppet representations of the Hindu gods Brahma, Ganesha, Garuda and Kali. My brother-in-law gave these to us for Christmas (pre-kid. he's an artist.), and I think they'll...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Giant Microbe Plush Toys
Ben Macneil reminded me* of Giant Microbes, plush toy versions of disease-causing germs and viruses. This one here is the rhinovirus, which causes colds. The collection runs from the benign (halitosis, athlete's foot) to the calamitous (ebola and the black...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
June 5, 2004
Ugly Dolls
I've been meaning to post about Ugly Dolls for a while. We just got a couple for a friend's kid's first birthday, and they're really soft and cuddly. But the main thing they've got going for them is they're not...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 31, 2004
A Surprisingly Favorite Toy: Lamaze Cube
Some friends with a 4-month old kid recommended we get this silly-looking Lamaze Multi-Sensory Clutch Cube; their kid totally loved it, they said, it's by far his favorite toy. Well, we got one, and our kid loves it. At first,...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
May 19, 2004
Three Centuries of Kids Gear at the Wadsworth Atheneum
So sue me. It turns out I did not invent fatherhood, and Daddy Types is not the first search for gear for kids. Kid Size: The Material World of Childhood is an exhibit at the Wadsworth Atheneum that explores three...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
April 24, 2004
Organic Toys for Earth Day
[Post delayed a couple of days due to wild Earth Day revelry] A friend gave the kid this eco-friendly stuffed puppy, handmade in Vermont from unbleached, undyed, organic cotton by a company called Peace Toys. They're the original manufacturer of...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
March 16, 2004
Wooden Blocks
Melissa and Doug make wooden toys, including the kind of blocks you think you remember your parents playing with. They're smooth-sanded and plain, and they pack neatly into a little wooden crate for storage. (As if. These things are gonna...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
Modern Seed: way modern design for kids
Although you'd never know it from most baby/kid stores, kids and good design don't have to be mutually exclusive. And Modern Seed is an online-only shop that proves it. There are classic design toys like House of Cards by Ray...
[read the full post...]
[read the full post...]
